Tamer
by Hikaru Kosuzaku
Summary: Harry Potter is tired of the Dursleys. And after seeing how Fudge refused to listen to Sirius's pleas of innocence, he's tired of them too. So he runs away. And finds his purpose. Fourth-year fic. Kinda-sorta slash...but not really...?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Not at all, despite my wishes. So, I hope you enjoy this story…despite the fact that it has a bit of a slow beginning. Loves, HK**

Chapter One

Harry Potter sighed as he got off the train in London. It had only been a few days since he and his godfather, Sirius Black, had nearly been killed by over one-hundred dementors. And now he was being sent back to his relatives where he would be forced to slave away for them on hardly any food or rest. He frowned to himself as he thought that over; Dumbledore was always so adamant that he return to the Dursleys, but he never told him why. Only that it was the safest place for him, which was a joke. It was a miracle that his 'loving family' hadn't killed him themselves.

And then there was the Ministry of Magic. An organization corrupt enough to send an innocent man to prison and then demand his death without a trial was an organization that Harry just couldn't put his trust in. He shook his head, grabbing his trunk and Hedwig's cage (he'd let her out to fly back home) and stashing them in his pocket, as he'd had the twins shrink them for him before the train had left Hogsmeade. He then headed for his obviously upset uncle.

As he continued to think about his experiences in the wizarding world, Harry found himself growing more and more upset. Why did he have to go back to the Dursleys? Surely there was somewhere better to go. He could always go to the Weasleys, he supposed, but chances were Dumbledore would just make him go back to his relatives anyway.

But if Dumbledore didn't know where he was…

A plan was unfolding in his mind, and Harry smiled slightly before glancing at his uncle. He had to convince him to drop him off at the Leaky Cauldron, but how was he going to do that? Actually…it would probably be a very simple thing to do.

"That was too easy," Harry murmured to himself as he slipped through The Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Ally. A few well placed threats and some promises of never coming back and Harry was free of his relatives. He glanced around at the shops, shrugged to himself, and made his way to the bank.

It took a moment for the goblins to notice him, but he remained patient, willing himself not to behave like all the other wizards and witches in the world. Goblins were people too, even if they looked and acted different. Why was that so hard to understand? So, when he finally had their attention, he politely asked if he could see someone about his assets. And they took him to Ragnok, leader of the bank, because his name was Harry Potter and he was The-Boy-Who-Lived.

The special treatment should have annoyed him, but he was beyond caring by this point. And besides, Ragnok had much to say about his family vault. His family vault. The Potter Family Vault that Harry hadn't even known existed.

He wasn't allowed to take money from the vault directly until he was at least fifteen. But his trust vault was refilled to 100,000 galleons every week, and he had unlimited access to that vault. It was a loop-hole, and it was one that made Harry wonder just how much money his family actually had.

It was more than enough to let his great-great-great grandchildren live without worry of work. He didn't think he'd ever heard of so much money in one place before.

Ragnok informed him that although he couldn't take the money from the vault, everything else was fair-game, and Harry was eager to see what was down there. But first, he set up a card with the bank that was like a muggle credit card and usable in both the muggle and magical worlds.

The trip down to the vault was just as fun as always, although the goblins seemed a little frightened of the small wizard asking if the carts could go any faster. Many wizards disliked the speed, and to see one so thoroughly enjoy it was a little off-putting.

But the vault…the vault was filled with shelves of books, portraits leaning against the walls, boxes just waiting to be opened and sorted through, furniture neatly stacked and waiting to be used again. He was told that the gold, silver, jewels and such were in the room off the back of the main vault, but he didn't care about that. He never really had.

Instead he was drawn to the boxes marked Godric's Hollow, although there were few of them. These were the things rescued from the house he and his parents had been living in before Voldemort had taken them away. Staring down at them for a moment, Harry shook his head and moved away. He had other things to be doing.

There was a trunk, though, that he found fascinating. Made of a dark red wood and lined with brass, this trunk had the Potter Crest—an emblazoned griffin on a flaming shield—engraved on the top. And it also, apparently, had seven compartments. A useful trunk, really, and Harry grinned to himself as he looked around the vault. Apparently, by tapping this trunk with his wand, it would shrink and unshrink itself without the aid of a spell.

So Harry, without really knowing why, started loading things into the trunk, surprised at how much could fit. In one compartment he put books from the shelves, some of which rather old. In another compartment he put the portraits. In another, the furniture—not all of it, but some was just calling to him and he couldn't help himself. In another he put two suits of armor, some swords, shields and other random weapons. Again, he wasn't sure why he did such. And in another compartment he put the boxes marked Godric's Hollow. Eventually he would bring himself to look through them.

And then he turned and left the vault, not bothering to look behind him. He said his thanks to the goblins, again shocking them with his un-wizardness, and went into Diagon Ally. He then spent the next two hours perusing the bookstore and buying whatever caught his fancy.

After eating a light lunch at The Leaky Cauldron, Harry stepped out into the busy streets of London and frowned down at himself. It was time to get a new wardrobe. This, of course, was much easier said than done, as Harry didn't have a preference to style and simply let a teenage girl dress him as she saw fit. Two hours and a headache later, Harry had clothes that not only fit but looked good as well, and he deemed it worth the hassle.

He stopped at a muggle bookstore by the train-station, again randomly picking books that looked interesting, both fiction and non-fiction. He'd always enjoyed reading, but had gotten out of the habit at Hogwarts, and it was something he was going to change this summer.

He stopped at a small market and picked up a loaf of bread and a bag of apples, knowing that he would need some food for the morning, as he had no idea where he was going. But at the train-station, while looking at a map and trying to decide a destination, the tiny town of Ravenshold stood out. It had less than 200 people and was almost completely surrounded by forest.

It was perfect.

He smiled to himself as seven hours later he was getting off the train and heading towards the town's one small inn. It would be nice to get away from the bustle of the city, away from the people who hated him, and the people who looked at him in awe. To just get away from it all for a while. This was a purely muggle town, and no one would know who he was.

Besides, something was calling to him here. Something that promised peace, and purpose.

Something that, strangely enough, felt like home.

End Chapter One


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

He ate breakfast at the inn, not needing his bread and apples after all, but glad he had them nonetheless. Because he would be heading into the forest today, along an overgrown path. No one could tell him what was down there, because it seemed that most had forgotten that path even existed. And Harry, being Harry, loved an adventure.

About five miles into the forest, the path turned into a drive leading up to what appeared to be an old house. This large brick building, roughly a square shape, was in very poor repair. It was two stories, not including the basement, and had a large wraparound porch with large stone pillars. However, the porch looked to be rotted, and while all the windows were intact, the door was hanging from its frame by one hinge.

The steps to the porch creaked ominously as Harry edged up them, looking at the thorny vines that wrapped around the pillars. He could see weak rose buds struggling to survive in the chokehold of the dead vines, and Harry thought that this place must have been wonderful at one time.

The front lawn was overgrown, the garden—what could be seen of it—a tangled mess of wood growth. There was a stable near what looked to be a small pasture, an old barn, a storage shed and what could possibly be a chicken-coop. All the buildings looked old, but they were sturdy, and the roofs were intact.

He turned back to the house, calling out "Hello!" and being met with only his echo. He knew it was wrong, but he was terribly curious about the inside. And it was obvious that no one was there and hadn't been there in years. So, what could it hurt if he explored the house a little?

So he walked inside, the door creaking ominously from where it hung. The floors were wood and in need of cleaning, and right in front of him was a large staircase built of mahogany. To the left was a sealed door, and Harry didn't feel the need to break in. Past that was another staircase leading into a dark basement that he was loath to venture into without proper lighting. A door led out to the side-porch, past that the overgrown garden.

Turning back to the main staircase, he gingerly made his way upstairs, finding four bedrooms, one of which a master suite, and a full bathroom in dire need of repair. All the furniture in the house was past the point of saving, but it was obvious that this house had once been a sight to behold.

Heading back downstairs he stopped and studied the large river-rock fireplace against the wall made by the stairs. The living room was a decent size that would be well-lit with natural light, had the windows not been so dirty. The room opened up into a dining room and a hall, the hall leading to a small bedroom and a full bath. The kitchen, though, was the most amazing room in Harry's opinion.

Aside from where the bathroom was located, it ran the length of the back of the house, opening up into the hall and the dining room. The counter, made of black stone—marble, maybe?—stretched the length of the kitchen and turned to follow the far right wall. There was also a counter, divided by two floor to ceiling pantry cabinets and the fridge, against the opposite wall, between the two doorways. Two dirty windows let dingy light into the room, dust motes catching the light in the air.

Harry smiled to himself as he gazed around this obviously muggle kitchen. It would have been amazing at one time. His eyes caught sight of something on the counter, and his curiosity brought him closer.

It was a folded piece of parchment, definitely old, and it was addressed to one Hadrian James Potter. Harry started at that, not having expected to find something for him in this house in the middle of nowhere. But then, he was a wizard who really should have died multiple times by this point, so what was one letter really?

He carefully unfolded the parchment, not wanting to damage the old note, and read the curly, flowing script.

_My Dearest Hadrian,_

_This letter may come as a surprise to you, but there is no need to fear. I have seen your entire life up to the point of you finding this house, and even beyond to the great things you shall accomplish. I am a seer, you see, and your birth and life were my focus. You will be one to change the world, child, but for that you will need help._

_And so I give you a purpose._

_This house and the surrounding lands, fifty square miles, belong to you now, my Hadrian. This house should have magically updated itself until the magic could no longer sustain itself and the stasis spells of the library. I am sorry about the condition of your new home, but I suppose the work will be good for you._

_This house is a muggle home and it would not be wise to use magic to fix it, child. However, you may be pleased to find that magic cannot be traced in this home or its lands. _

_Fix up the house, Hadrian, and the library will unlock itself. In there you will find your purpose and the reasons for these lands. The muggles will be able to find the house if you need help in this task, but they will not be able to enter the forest. And the wizards are unable to find this place at all, for it is unplottable to all except those you share your love to. You are safe here, Hadrian, safer than you have ever been before._

_In the stable you will find a wagon in good repair, kept such by stasis spells. There shall also be a horse sleeping in his stall. This horse, Roy—named such by my late son—has been sleeping for many years, awaiting your arrival. He and the wagon will be your transport to and from town._

_You may be displeased with me for forcing this task upon you, but trust me, you will grow to love it. I have seen it. Build yourself a family, Hadrian, and build yourself a life._

_My sincerest love,_

_Rochelle Evans, January 17__th__ 1647_

Harry read the letter three times before setting it down and looking around the kitchen again. This house was his then, left to him by some seer nearly four hundred years ago. This house and fifty square miles of woodland. That was a lot of property for a thirteen, almost fourteen, year old.

And he had a purpose waiting for him in the library for after he got the house in livable conditions. He frowned slightly, not liking someone dictating his life for him but… This place felt like home. He was far away from his problems in the wizarding world, safe from his enemies. And now he had something to do.

But first, he needed some lunch.

He retreated to the living room, pulling his two trunks from his pocket and resizing them with a tap of his wand. Grabbing some bread and an apple from the Potter trunk, he also grabbed a notebook and pen, of which he'd bought a large supply of in London. He really wanted to get started on this house as soon as possible, because he had a feeling that the library was holding a rather important secret for him.

When it came to the house though, he was hoping that most of the problems were cosmetic. He was a little worried about the plumbing and electricity, but he'd had experience fixing those from the Dursleys and knew he could handle just about anything. Everything else would be simple enough to fix.

Opening the notebook he began making a list of needed items. First and foremost, cleaning supplies. He really wouldn't be able to work on the house until it was clean, after all. Leaving his trunks in the room, he travelled from room to room, making a list of needed items. A toolkit to fix the doors and windows. Wood stain for the floors. New tile for the kitchen, as the old ones had cracked and broken over time. A new bathroom sink for the downstairs bathroom, a new toilet for upstairs. Carpet for the bedrooms and more tile for the master bath. Paint for every room, different colors depending on what purpose the room held.

On first trial, the plumbing, while reluctant, worked well and was clear, clean water. There were no leaks from what he could see. The electricity was harder to check, as most of the light bulbs had broken, but Harry managed to see that there were no real problems with that either. That was a relief, at least, as this house was already looking to cost a lot of money.

The kitchen needed a new fridge, dishwasher and stove, and the basement—once explored—was found to need a new washer and dryer for the laundry room, another bathroom sink, and more tile for the small kitchen area. There was also a large storage room that looked to hold old potions ingredients, and by the looks of things, the kitchen area in the corner of the large open room had once been used for brewing. The room itself was perfect for spell-practice or dueling. Harry would definitely like it here.

Glancing around at the house one last time, Harry headed back outside, eager to wander the grounds a bit before heading into town for supplies. There wasn't too much room around the house and outbuildings, due to the encroaching forest, but there was still quite a bit of space.

The front lawn had once had a stone path leading to the house, which Harry could still make out between the weeds. There were also quite a few flower beds, not including the climbing roses taking over the front porch. A little yard work and Harry believed it would be good as new.

The garden was a tangle of weeds and edible plants. There were some overgrown herbs among scraggly vegetables and again Harry knew it would take some work to get it in proper condition. But it would definitely be worth it not to have to go into town for vegetables.

The barn was a large once-red building with a loft for storage and some oversized stalls. He wondered, briefly, what animals had been kept there for the building and stalls to be so big. Behind the barn was a small orchard of apple, peach and cherry trees. He smiled to himself; he'd always loved fruit, and although it wasn't ripe yet it would be nice to have some fresh food nearby.

The storage shed, just an empty building, was backed by a path leading into the forest. At first Harry was reluctant to follow the path, as he didn't want to get lost, but it turned out to only lead a little ways in, past a group of trees, and to a large field of grain. There were some woodland plants mingling with the grain field, as overtime the field had obviously be neglected, but Harry could see that it was still in rather good condition. Just to the left of that field was another covered with green hay. This field had less overgrowth, although Harry couldn't understand why.

The chicken coop was in good condition, clean and waiting for some inhabitants. There was a small fenced in area around the coop for the chickens to wander around outside, although the fence needed to be replaced.

The pasture merely needed to be mown, the fence needing very slight repair work as the wooden beams had been expertly put together. And opening up to the pasture was the stable, which Harry now headed to, his bag of apples in hand. He figured that if Roy-the-horse had been sleeping for years, than he was probably hungry. He knew he would be.

The stable was a small one, only having four stalls. But all the stalls opened up into the pasture, and there were two storage stalls at the end of the building. One of which was holding saddles and tack, obviously kept in good condition from the stasis spells, and the other a large wagon, or cart.

The horse though…that gave Harry pause. He was sleeping peacefully in his stall, but even lying down, the animal was massive. It was a large black and white Shire horse, one of the largest breeds in the world. Harry hesitated, never having dealt with such a large animal before, and then shrugged, placing his hand against the beast's side.

Roy gave a snuffling snort, shaking his head and blinking open large brown eyes. He eyed Harry for a long moment before clambering to his feet. Harry backed up a bit, blinking up at the large horse, who was easily 68 inches tall, five and a half feet, at the shoulder. He was gorgeous though, perfectly healthy with a black coat, mane and tail and white stockings and blaze.

Harry held out an apple to the animal, and Roy took it eagerly. He ate three more apples before nudging Harry out of the stall and towards the cart. Harry grinned; just like him to end up with a horse smarter than most. Hedwig was the same, smarter than most animals around.

Speaking of Hedwig, Harry frowned as he hooked Roy up to the cart, instinctively knowing how to do so. He wouldn't realize this until later, but he almost always knew what to do when it came to animals of all sorts. But Hedwig hadn't shown up yet, and he was beginning to get worried. He had told her to meet him at the Dursleys, after all, as he hadn't come up with his running-away plan yet.

As if in answer to his worries, however, a blur of white swooped down as soon as Harry and Roy exited the stable. Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder, nipped at his ear and then took off again, settling into a tree to sleep. Harry grinned, keeping his emerald eyes on her form until he and Roy turned onto the path that led to town.

It was a half-hour trip to town, and Harry spent another good hour at the store getting cleaning supplies and more food (none of which needing to be cooked). He had completely shocked the townspeople by driving up in a cart pulled by a monster-horse. He had made up a believable story about how he and his uncle had just inherited the house in the woods, but as his uncle was very sick, he was in charge of the town-runs. They took that explanation at face value and were charmed by the young teenager that was so eager to help his ailing uncle. They even helped him pick out good items for the house, and order them to be set aside to be picked up at his convenience.

He headed back to the house, letting Roy out in the pasture to graze, quite sure that the horse wouldn't wander off if the fence were to suddenly fall apart. He gave him a few more apples as well, much to Roy's pleasure.

"Well, nothing to it, then," Harry muttered to himself as he grabbed the bags and headed back for the house.

He cleaned non-stop for the next four hours, managing to get most of the downstairs spotless by the time the sun set. Apparently slaving away at the Dursleys for all those years had taught Harry about time management and effective cleaning. He'd never thought he'd be grateful for his relatives…

He made himself a simple dinner, checked on Hedwig and Roy, and then settled down next to the lantern he had bought, curling up in a blanket from his parent's vault.

He wasn't pleased with his progress in his classes at Hogwarts. He knew he could do better, was sure of it, but for some reason he had let his skills lapse while at the magic school. He now had a goal to read through all of his textbooks from first year on. And it was his luck that he could now practice the magic without fear of retribution.

He made it through the first year charms book that night, reading much faster and retaining more information than he usually did. Of course, before Hogwarts, Harry had practically read through every book he could get his hands on (which wasn't many), so perhaps he was just going back to how he had been before.

The next morning, he made a quick breakfast and then went about fixing the front door and tearing out all the tile and appliances that needed to be replaced. He gave in and vanished the pile of trash, including all the old furniture and fixtures he'd collected throughout the house. A quick lunch and Harry finished scrubbing the basement and second floor.

The house was much brighter with it being clean and sunlight being able to get through the windows. He was pleased with his progress so far, having cleaned the large house much faster than he had thought possible. He would have to go back into town tomorrow for the wood stain and paint. He'd tile the floors and replace the appliances after painting.

With about two hours of sunlight left, Harry headed outside to brush down Roy and clean out the horse's stall. He frowned to himself, wishing he had some clean hay to put in the stall, but that would have to wait. He then started working on pruning the roses, working until the last of the sunlight slipped away.

That night he read through his first year transfiguration book, and was surprised at how much more sense it all made now that he fully understood the basics.

End Chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The painting took two weeks to complete to Harry's satisfaction. By this point he had read up through the third year texts and now had a much better understanding of all the subjects. Except, perhaps, divination.

He also knew that people had to be searching for him by now. But he wasn't about to give them any help. He liked it here, and he liked the work and he found himself growing increasingly curious about this 'purpose' that had been promised to him.

He'd gotten quite a bit done with the outside of the house as well, fixing the porch and fences, and weeding the gardens. He'd gotten some hay for the stable on a trip into town, as well as some small chickens that were now laying eggs, which made for a good breakfast. The work had left him fit and tanned, and despite the simple meals, they were nourishing and did a lot towards making him healthier. He was still small for his age, but at least now he didn't look so sickly.

It was on the beginning of the third week, when Harry had just finished carpeting the basement, that Hedwig gave a warning screech. It was answered by a louder call that Harry immediately recognized. Walking outside, he was almost surprised to find Buckbeak shifting nervously from foot to foot in front of his house. On his back was a weak and delirious looking Sirius.

Harry frowned to himself, very worried about his godfather's condition, while at the same time being annoyed at Sirius for allowing himself to get in said condition. So he stepped forward and helped his godfather—who was quite feverish—off the hippogriff's back before turning back to Buckbeak.

The beast was looking a little ill as well, holding his wings limply, as though they pained him. Harry shook his head, clicking his tongue. No, this wouldn't do at all. He gently led Buckbeak to the barn where he quickly prepared one of the oversized stalls with fresh straw and led the hippogriff inside. He then retrieved the large rats he had killed earlier that day and had yet to dispose of. He honestly did not like the idea of killing any creature for no reason, but they had been going after his eggs and scaring his chickens, and he hadn't yet read up on or tested any wards to keep the rats out of the coop.

Now, though, he was grateful to have something to offer the hungry beast. "Here you go. Let me go take care of Sirius, and then I'll come out and finish taking care of you," he explained gently.

He returned to his godfather's side, and helped the man into the house and to the back bathroom. There was no reason why the feverish man had to stay in such grungy clothes, all covered in dirt and filth. He filled the bath, glad that the plumbing worked and that he had finished fixing this bathroom already, and managed to get the man into the water.

It was slow going, and somewhat awkward, bathing Sirius and getting him clothed again in resized clothing of Harry's. Harry gently washed Sirius's tangled and matted hair, and considered cutting it from elbow length to something more manageable, but decided to leave it for Sirius to decide and braided it back instead (knowing how to do that from when he'd braid Ginny's hair while comforting her after nightmares…her first year was still traumatizing her, and Harry's own nightmares meant that he was often up anyway.) He then settled the man into his nest of blankets and pillows in the front room, and had started a vegetable stew in a cauldron over the fire in the fireplace (he hadn't gotten the kitchen in working order yet). Wishing he had some fever-reducers or some other type of potion, Harry merely shook his head and returned to the barn.

His Care of Magical Creatures book, the Monster Book of Monster, had been fascinatingly detailed in the care of creatures. And hippogriffs had been a favorite of the author's. He knew exactly what he needed to do to tend to Buckbeak's sore wings. Grabbing another cauldron he filled it with steaming water and conjured a couple towels. His conjurations weren't the best, they always tended to disappear after two hours or so, but it would due for now.

Speaking softly to the creature, he gently laid the soaked and steaming towels against the hippogriff's shoulders. "There, that should help your sore muscles," he murmured, surprised that the usually proud beast was allowing him so close. "I wish I had more food to offer you, but I'm afraid I don't. Tomorrow, if you're feeling any better, I'll let you out into the forest to hunt for yourself. There should be plenty of rabbits and such to hunt."

The hippogriff gave a small, warbling cry as Harry got to his feet to return to the house, and Harry was startled to find that he heard a faint 'thank you' in the sound. He shook it off though, vowing to get more sleep that night, and returned to Sirius's side.

He managed to get the man to drink down some of the broth from the vegetable stew, and Harry was quite pleased at that. He then tucked him into the blankets and set to reading some of the books he'd bought from the alley, as well as the ones he'd pulled from his family vault. He'd found, during his review of his texts, that the most interesting subjects to him were Defense, Care of Magical Creatures, and surprisingly Potions. Herbology was also quite interesting, but he had to admit that he was more comfortable with plants that wouldn't be likely to eat him. He'd leave that subject for Neville.

Charms and Transfigurations were fine and dandy, but while Harry found he had some talent in those subjects, he just wasn't as interested in them. Divination really was a load of crap, as it was very imprecise and Trelawney was out of her mind. History of Magic was actually quite fascinating when not listening to a ghost drone on, and Harry found himself wanting to learn more about the origins of magic as well.

He made sure to read a lot of muggle books as well, interspersed with his magic ones. He read up on the care of horses and other animals, learning that feeding Roy too much fruit and grain would be bad for him. He learned about simple house-care, and how to take care of a farm. He read the fiction books, finding the muggle's view of fantasy absolutely amazing, and loving the stories. He especially found himself falling in love with the Anne McCaffery's Pern books, loving the dragons and the relationships they had with humans.

He was reading a potions book tonight, and was frowning in concentration over a potion that was said to be able to fix a wizard's eyes. That would be very useful, if he could manage it. But it was a hard potion, with ingredients that he had never heard of. Sighing, he set the book aside, vowing to write Professor Snape sometime to ask some of his questions. The man may hate him, and Harry may dislike the professor, but at least Snape had never lied to him or hidden the truth from him before. And perhaps if he worded his questions correctly, the man would be more willing to answer.

Sirius spent most of the night deliriously speaking about 'Little Bambi', which Harry soon figured out to be him. Apparently Lily had given him that nickname and against his father's wishes, Sirius and Remus had continued to call him such. It was kind of a floofy nickname, and if Harry were any other teenager he might have complained. But Harry wasn't any other teenager, he was Harry, and as it was, he found himself growing rather fond of the name his family had dubbed him with.

Two days later Harry was screwing in the last light fixture in the house when Sirius woke. His fever had broken the night before and he had been sleeping peacefully since. Harry, hearing Sirius wake up, left the kitchen, putting the screwdriver back in the toolbox and storing it away in the hall closet. "Hullo Padfoot," he said happily, entering the front room.

"Bambi?" Sirius asked in confusion before flushing. "I mean…"

Harry grinned, shaking his head. "Don't worry about. I've spent the last three days listening to you babble. Bambi is fine."

"Where are we?" Sirius asked, blinking at his godson, who was looking somewhat different from the last time he had seen him.

"Home!" Harry replied with a wide grin. Yes, this house and its surrounding lands had quickly become home for the teen. And, safe as it was, it would be Sirius's as well.

"Home?" Sirius asked again, feeling like he was missing something. He looked around at the room he was in, noticing it was empty of all furniture. It was a large, bright room, due to the three large windows letting in light. It was painted a nice tan color that went spectacularly with the mahogany stained wood floors. The light fixtures were tarnished brass, and definitely muggle, and the large fireplace was made of river rock. "Home? Harry, aren't you supposed to be at your relatives?" Although he couldn't fault the kid for wanting to leave. "Where are we exactly?"

Harry's grin never left his face as he took a seat next to his godfather in the nest of blankets on the floor. "Well, see. I didn't want to return to the Dursleys. Dumbledore never explained why I had to, so I just didn't. And I went to Gringotts and found my family vault and filled a trunk full of stuff and then bought lots of books and clothes and then jumped on a train to a tiny little town called Ravenshold. We're actually five miles from Ravenshold in a house left to me by some seer lady."

Sirius was blinking again by the end of that explanation, but Harry just handed him the letter that had been left in the kitchen. Reading it, Sirius gave a sigh and then looked up at his godson. "This place doesn't look so bad…"

"You should have seen it before," Harry said with wide eyes. "I just finished fixing everything about two minutes ago. Now, I just have to furnish it. Funny…I have a lot of furniture and stuff in my trunk…"

"Like you subconsciously knew," Sirius muttered. He stood up and stretched, working out the kinks in his back and shoulders. "So, give me a tour and then I can help with whatever you need."

Harry blinked up at him. "You're not going to get mad at me for leaving?"

Sirius smiled. "Why would I do that? You're safe here, obviously. You look healthier and happier than you were even at Hogwarts. You obviously like this place if you were willing to clean it up…"

"Took me three weeks, too," Harry grumbled. He really, really wanted to know what was in the library.

Sirius nodded. "Give me a tour, I'll get cleaned up and we can go over some plans. Then I can help you furnish this place."

"Sounds good," Harry muttered. He stood as well, opening his arms to encompass the room. "This is the living room. Now, this house is completely muggle while being entirely magical. It's muggle in that it runs off electricity and plumbing and magic probably wouldn't be a good idea for everyday things, because of the magic that's making the electricity and plumbing actually work. We have internet access here too. Magic…apparently it does work with technology." Harry only knew that because he had bought a small laptop computer to be able to do more research on some things he was interested in. A journal of his parent's (which had been an amazing find in one of the book boxes) explained how to get it to work and run off magic. Lily had been amazing with charms.

He led the man on. "The dining room." This room only had one window, with stained edges depicting magical creatures. The room had the same mahogany flooring, and dark red painted walls with white trim. The built in cabinets in the four corners were also painted white.

"The kitchen." This room, again, was one of the most amazing. White the counters had stayed the same dark marble, the floor tiles had been replaced with gray slate, the walls had been painted a bright blue, and the cabinets were all a bright, glossy white. The fridge, stove, oven and sink had all been replaced with stainless steel appliances, and the windows glittered, as they were stained glass as well, the edges painted with phoenixes and snidgets.

Harry led Sirius out of the kitchen and into the hall, painted the same color as the living room, a small window at the end letting in light. "The bathroom." A full bath done in greens and blues, with white porcelain tub, toilet and pedestal sink. "And the guest bedroom." Really, this room was tiny, only large enough to be able to hold a full bed and night stand. But there was a large closet as well. The room was painted a light purple color, and the floor was carpeted with a dark gray carpet.

Sirius and Harry made their way back through the living room, past the staircase and to the locked door. "This is the library. I haven't managed to get in yet…I'm thinking once the place is furnished, it will open." Down the stairs to the basement and Sirius looked around in approval. "The basement…laundry room," done in blue tile with a new washer and dryer. "Bathroom," red and purple, white toilet and sink. "Storage room," again with blue tile, the walls lined with shelves filled with different potions ingredients. "And the main room of course." A large empty space for dueling or playing was carpeted with dark gray, fluffy carpet. The kitchenette in the corner with its black marble counter and blue tiled floor had cabinets of oak and a stove on the island. It was the perfect place for brewing potions, and it was even vented to the outside, so the fumes wouldn't overrun the rest of the house.

They headed back upstairs and then up to the second floor. "The master bedroom," Harry said as they went to the left. It was a large room, painted in a light green with a darker green trim. The bathroom was done in that same dark green, and there was a large walk-in closet. "The bathroom," a full bath done in blues and grays like the one downstairs, only instead of a pedestal sink there was one with storage. "And the last three bedrooms." They varied in size and color, the largest of which having two closets and painted red, the second largest having one closet and painted blue, and the smallest having one closet and painted an earthy tan color. All the bedrooms were carpeted with the same dark gray carpet as the guest bedroom and the basement.

Sirius was impressed with the amount of work that Harry had put into the house, as the boy explained what he had had to do with each room. "Which room do you want?" he asked Harry, noticing that the child hadn't really voiced his opinions on that. He fully expected Harry to claim the master bedroom, and thus was surprised when Harry said he wanted the smallest bedroom upstairs.

"Why?" Sirius frowned. This was, after all, Harry's house.

Harry shrugged. "I'm not used to large spaces. And that room is bigger than the one the Dursleys gave me. It's the perfect size for me. You can have the master."

Sirius shook his head. "No…no. If it's okay with you, I was thinking we could invite Remus to live with us here. He should have the master. I'll take the one next to yours."

Harry beamed at the idea of his former professor living with them, and promised to send Hedwig out with a note for him soon. They made their way back downstairs, Harry explaining about the out-buildings and Roy. He then talked a little about the town, and how he and his 'sick uncle' (which was more true now that Sirius was living with him) had set up a post-office box in town to save the postman the walk out to the house. Apparently most of the muggles were wary of the woods that this house was located in.

"I've been calling this place Haven, actually," Harry admitted as he and Sirius grabbed the two trunks from where Harry had put them in the closet and hauled them to the front room. "It's easier than saying 'the house and its surrounding lands'."

They pulled out the same notebook and pen that Harry had used three weeks before and opened it up. "Okay, for the living room…what do we need?" Sirius asked with a smile. He loved working with Harry; the kid was really happy and intelligent. Already Harry had been chattering about all the different books he had read so far this summer and the spells he had mastered. It was definitely going to be a fun rest of the summer here.

Harry grinned at his godfather, happy that he was going to be able to make the choices. "A rug for in front of the fireplace. And a couch and two armchairs." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Coffee table?" he asked.

Sirius thought about it for a moment too. "How about two end tables instead?" he suggested. "That way there's room to lie in front of the fireplace."

"Good idea." Harry thought for a moment more. "Two bookshelves, corner ones. And a table or bench or something for in between the windows." They moved on to the dining room. "A table and chairs, obviously. But a large one…eight seats. And a rug."

The kitchen was deemed to be fine, except for needing pots and pans and utensils and plates and such. Dishes shopping would probably have to be done after looking through what Harry had brought from the vault and maybe a trip to the Potter and Black vaults in general.

The bathrooms were in need of towels and other hygiene products, and the guest bedroom needed a bed and end table. The basement, they decided, needed a couch and coffee table, for a sitting area near the kitchenette. The rest of the room was left empty, so as to leave room for spell practice.

Upstairs, each bedroom was fitted with a bed, all of which queen sized, and a dresser. Each bathroom was listed as needing the essentials as well. Harry mentioned the books and portraits he had taken from the vault, as well as the armor and weapons, and they roughly planned out where they wanted to place those as well.

"It's good to have a plan," Harry said as they turned to the trunks to begin unpacking.

Sirius laughed a bark-like laugh. "Your father's plans always got us caught, Bambi. At least yours seem to work well."

"Not always," Harry muttered, forgoing the books, portraits and such, and heading straight for the furniture.

It took the rest of the day to get the house organized, using a copious amount of levitation spells, as Sirius still wasn't strong enough for a lot of heavy lifting. Harry promised that after a couple weeks out in the sun weeding the gardens, or in the barn and stable mucking out stalls, the man would have plenty of muscle building up. Sirius, seeing his godson's physique, wasn't about to argue with that.

Sirius took a shower in the downstairs bath, using the one bath towel in the house, while Harry threw the resized clothes in the wash and started making dinner. He'd always enjoyed cooking, although not so much while with the Dursleys, and even when there wasn't a lot in the house he managed to make a fine meal.

After dinner and Sirius was dressed again, they retreated to the living room, which was now furnished, but still looking a little empty. They decided to tackle the portraits and pictures tomorrow, and curled up on the couch together with the blankets (making a mental note to order more and have them shipped to Ravenshold). They talked long into the night of many things, including pranks and adventures.

But it was the conversation about why Snape hated James so much that Harry couldn't get out of his head. Sirius had been reluctant to speak for a long time after Harry had asked about it, and he had been afraid that he had asked too personal of a question.

But finally, Sirius sighed and spoke. "The war was going strong at that point…and it was happening within the walls of Hogwarts as well. Looking back now, I can plainly see that the Slytherins weren't the only ones attacking others, but they were the most pronounced. And the teachers refused to step in. It wasn't right, and so we Marauders started fighting back. Nothing permanently harmful, but our pranks weren't light-hearted anymore. They were meant to cause humiliation."

"And so you targeted Snape?" Harry asked, frowning.

Sirius shook his head. "Not only Snape. Although he might disagree with that. We started targeting those that deserved it. Those that had harmed others, usually littler kids that couldn't fight back. Snape wasn't the worst offender, but he had his moments. And he hung with the wrong crowd." Sirius was frowning darkly at that moment; that crowd had consisted of his cousins and brother after all.

Harry nodded to himself, thinking that over. Snape was a bit of a git, but he wasn't exactly evil. He had, after all, saved Harry a few times now. "I can see how that could cause some hard feelings…but Dumbledore says that Dad saved Snape…"

Sirius's gaze went over Harry's head, his eyes becoming unfocused for a moment in memory. "You need to understand something Bambi. The summer before fifth year was exceptionally bad for me and I ran away. Ended up living with your father. Never went back home after that." Glancing at Harry he wasn't terribly surprised to find that the boy sympathized; Harry's life hadn't been easy either, after all. "That year my cousins were relentlessly targeting me. It wasn't decent for a Black to side with the Light after all…" He rolled his eyes. "One night…one night Lucius Malfoy and my cousin, Bellatrix cornered me. That…wasn't a pleasant night. And when Snape found me, they were hiding at that point, and he demanded I tell him where I and the other Marauders disappeared to on full moons, Lucius put me under the Imperious. I can usually fight it, but I wasn't exactly in the best of shape then, and was I forced to tell Snape about the tunnel under the Whomping Willow."

Harry's eyes widened. It went without saying that it had been a full moon that night. Sirius continued, his voice soft, but cold at the same time. "A couple crucios later and Lucy and Bella went off, and your father and Lily found me…I managed to tell James what had happened in time for him to save Snape from Moony…and Lily took me to the Hospital Wing."

"But!" Harry shook his head. "But why didn't the staff do anything! Surely it was obvious that you'd had the unforgivables used on you."

"It was," Sirius murmured. "But they didn't care. Told everyone it was a prank. And Lucy and Bella and all their friends told Snape it was a prank and that I had been trying to kill him. So, in 'retaliation' they fought harder and James and Remus fought back. I fought back as well…I was tired of being the victim at that point. And it all just got out of control."

Sirius gave his godson a grim smile. "Let that be a lesson, Bambi. I'm not sure of what. But there's a lesson in there somewhere."

The next morning at daybreak, they had a nice breakfast of eggs and bacon. And then Harry dragged Sirius out to muck out the stable and do yard work until lunch. He figured that the sunlight and light work (Harry would take the harder work until Sirius was up to a healthy enough condition to complete it) would be good for him.

Sirius was completely exhausted by lunch, but in a good way. Harry had cooked up a lovely meal and then the two of them sat down to go through the portraits, figuring the books would go in the library when it finally unlocked itself.

There were also the boxes from Godric's Hollow that they needed to go through. Harry was glad that Sirius would be there for that, although he knew it was going to be hard for the both of them. Before starting, though, Hedwig was sent out with some notes to send to various people.

The portraits were easy enough to sort through, as the Potters had never really been fond of moving pictures. They put the family portraits in the upstairs hallway. The painting of a young redheaded girl and a black haired boy (who bore striking resemblances to Lily and Snape) playing under a large oak tree was put in the extra bedroom upstairs. The painting of Hogwarts, as seen from the Black Lake, was put in the dining room. A landscape of the White Cliffs of Dover, as Sirius told Harry, was put in the guest bedroom. And the last large painting was put above the fireplace.

It was a forest scene, looking a lot like the Forbidden Forest outside of Hogwarts' grounds. In the middle stood a regal buck with large antlers, at his side a delicate looking doe. A gray wolf and a large black dog curled around each other in front of the two. Sirius had never seen that painting before, but the two of them found it beautiful and decided it deserved its place above the mantle.

They then turned to the armor and weapons, leaving the Godric's Hollows boxes for last. The two suits of armor were placed on either side of the fireplace. A set of crossed swords was placed above the library door. The Potter shield, used in a battle during the age of Camelot, was put in the hall across from the kitchen. There were other pieces that were hung as decoration in the basement.

And then, all that was left were the boxes. Both Harry and Sirius sighed and pulled the first box towards them. It turned out to hold his parents' clothes. They ruffled through them, Sirius pulling out a few pieces of James' clothing (as he really had none of his own, and he was so skinny they would fit for a while) and then they closed up the box and promised to donate it to charity.

Lily's jewelry was packed back up to be placed back in the Potter vault, although Sirius explained the stories behind some of the pieces. Harry especially liked the small golden snitch necklace on the thin chain that his father had given her while attending the World Cup in Paris a year before he was born. His parents' wedding rings were also packed back up, as Harry really didn't know what he should do with them.

Another box held books, which were placed with the others. There were many framed photographs (again, of the not-moving variety) of family, friends and such. Sirius told most of the stories behind each picture, tears coming to his eyes at many of them. Harry loved those photos, as everyone looked so happy. There were pictures from the Marauders' Hogwarts days, with the four of them laughing and playing. Harry and Sirius scowled at the reminder of Peter, but left him in the photos, as he had been a great friend—a brother even—at one time. (Although, they vanished him from some of the other photos, if they felt he should not be in them.) There were pictures of Lily and her best friend, Alice, who happened to be Neville's mother. Harry vowed to speak to Neville about that. There were pictures of Lily and Snape, who Harry was surprised to find was a great friend of hers through most of Hogwarts, their friendship stemming from their childhood. Wedding pictures, honeymoon pictures, and finally pictures of baby-Harry with his parents and godfathers (Remus being included into that family). There was also a collection of empty frames, which caused Harry to grin.

Some scrambling through his school trunk produced a shoebox filled with photographs of his first three years at Hogwarts. Sometimes being famous came in handy; everyone was always taking pictures and Harry had learned to ask for copies of his favorites. Colin, though, had been annoyingly persistent when it came to photographing Harry though…

The pictures were hung about the house, usually in large photo-montages. The majority of them ended up in the front hall, though, between the large windows. It was great fun for the two of them to hang those happy memories. Goodness knows both had had many years of sorrow between them.

Another box held kitchen supplies, most of which useful. That was nice, because now Harry wouldn't have to buy much more. Sirius had told him that Lily had been rather fond of peacocks, which explained the fine china set decorated with delicately painted peacock feathers.

A knitted afghan in Gryffindor colors made by Mrs. Potter for her son James, was thrown over the back of the couch (the same couch that had been in the Godric's Hollow home). A large rug that had been found in James' and Lily's living room was now placed in the dining room, beneath the large black table that had once been at Potter Manor. Grandma Potter's vases were placed in special spots throughout the house, as they were quite valuable both monetarily and sentimentally. Knick-knacks were sorted through to be either used as decoration throughout the house, or donated. Every item seemed to have a story behind it, and Harry soaked up the tales eagerly.

One box, though, held a collection of crystal animals that had Sirius drawing in a breath. "Lily adored these," he said reverently, carefully pulling a glistening phoenix from its wrappings. Harry glanced at him before returning his gaze to the exquisite griffin in his own hand. "They were all handmade and sold exclusively at a store in Godric's Hollow."

Tears shimmered in Sirius's gray eyes as he unwrapped more, finding a rearing Pegasus, its wings outstretched. "This was the first one James bought for her, a gift from him to her on their wedding day. After that, on the third week of every month, he would buy her another."

Those crystal animals took their places in the built in dining room cabinets. Twenty-seven creatures in all, every one different. Two dragons of different species, three unicorns, a griffin, Pegasus, phoenix, nundu, hippogriff, hellcat, Cerberus, thestral, hellhound, basilisk, nine-tailed fox, four different elemental sprites, bowtruckle, chimera, kneazle, crup, werewolf, mermaid, grim, snidget and a runespoor. They were amazing, and Harry was extremely glad that he now had them.

They unpacked the box from the nursery, although they didn't find much as that room had been nearly destroyed in the attack. All the baby articles were put away to be donated, except for the plush stag, dog, wolf and snitch that Harry had been given at his birth. Those Harry put safely on a shelf in his bedroom.

And finally, they found his parents' wands. They were placed on a special stand on the mantle, as a reminder to Harry and Sirius of what they were fighting for.

That night, after dinner, Harry and Sirius went on an online shopping spree, ordering what else was needed for their home. A new wardrobe for Sirius, bedspreads and pillows for all the rooms, the missing kitchen utensils, bath towels, and more. It was an expensive endeavor, what with paying for shipping to Ravenshold, but one that was worth it. Because now their house really was a home.

And in the darkness of that silent night, the library door clicked open.

End Chapter


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I just play with the characters a bit, here and there. **

**As a note: People have been asking how the house could have electricity and plumbing when it was built in the 1600's. The answer was in the letter Rochelle Evans left. She said that the house would update itself until the magic ran out, aside from the stasis spells in the library. So, in my mind, the house updated itself up until about the 1960's. Hence the electricity and plumbing. It is a magical, muggle house after all. Sorry about the confusion. **

Chapter Four

_Moony Moon Moon,_

_Sorry for disappearing. I got sick and ended up letting Beaky take me wherever he wanted. But that's okay, because I found myself a Bambi. I'm having a great time and hope to see you soon!_

_Mischief managed,_

_Padfoot_

Remus frowned at the note Hedwig had brought, and then shook his head. Sirius had found Harry. Looking around at the others in Hogwarts' Great Hall, most of whom panicking over the missing Boy-Who-Lived, he whispered, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

The note changed. _Moony, Harry and I are living in Haven five miles outside of Ravenshold. It's perfectly safe, so no worries. We were wondering if you'd like to join us. –Padfoot._

Remus nodded to himself, letting the note change back and folding it up to place in his pocket. He then left the hall. He had packing to get done, after all.

Severus Snape, however, was frowning darkly at his own letter. He'd been completely surprised to receive a note from Potter, but had been even more dumbfounded by what it had contained.

There had been a vial containing the memory of Harry's talk with Sirius. Severus had been shocked to find that Lucius had been behind his near-death-by-werewolf. And by the reasoning behind the Marauders.

"I just thought you should know, sir," had been all Potter had said on that.

Potter's other questions, the ones pertaining to potions, also shocked the professor. While Potter had never been the worst student, he definitely hadn't been a student who should have been asking questions such as these.

Replacing the shrivelfig with powdered unicorn horn would be an interesting idea for the Wolfsbane potion. Potter's theory that it would make the effects permanent was a solid theory, and Severus would have to experiment. Adding mint to it to improve the taste? He'd never considered that, either, although that plant wouldn't change the effect of the potion.

As for the potion that could fix a wizard's eyesight? That potion had been lost ages ago, and Severus found himself insanely curious as to where the boy had found it. A couple of the ingredients now went by different names, which would clear up some of Potter's confusion.

Also, Severus couldn't care less if the boy was at his relatives or wandering the country side. Potter said he was safe and Severus would take his word for it, because, frankly, he didn't care. Besides, the ruckus the child had caused by disappearing was the most amusing thing he'd seen in years.

_Hey Ron!_

_I know I've probably caused an uproar by disappearing, but no worries, okay? I'm perfectly safe, and if Dumbledore can't find me, neither can the Death Eaters, right? Besides, Padfoot's here and hopefully Moony is on his way._

_I've already finished our homework. Have you started yours? You probably should, cause it's important. Don't go calling me another Hermione, either. She didn't 'corrupt' me or anything. Before Hogwarts I loved learning and reading…I just sort of fell out of the habit. But, really, it is important to do our best in school, and you should probably think about that._

_You do, after all, play an integral part of our trio. Hermione is our researcher, I'm the one who jumps in without thinking, and you're our strategist. Yup. And what with the way our world is, you might want to look into war strategy. Because if Voldemort ever comes back I'm going to be relying on you for plans._

_Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. In fact, I'm better than fine._

_See you later,_

_Harry_

Ron blinked at the note Harry had sent, scowling slightly at the thought that his friend was getting onto him about homework. He sounded just like Hermione. But then he read the note again, and sighed. Okay, so Harry had a point.

It also felt good that Harry said he had a place in their group. Sometimes he just felt like the tag-along in their trio, not good at anything or good for anything. But to be told that he was important…

Ron smirked to himself, glancing at where he had thrown his school books when they had gotten home for the summer. Maybe, if he tried harder he would have more of a place. He'd make his own way, instead of standing in the shadows of his brothers. He opened his charms book and glanced at the assignment Flitwick had given.

Yeah, maybe this studying thing would actually be worth it.

_Dear Hermione, _

_Sorry about making you worry. I'm fine and perfectly safe. Where I am is definitely better than the Dursleys. So don't worry about me. Padfoot is aware of where I am, and Moony is hopefully considering joining us too. _

_Don't fear, I've gotten my homework done. I've even taken up more studying besides. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed learning. Transfiguration still confuses me, and Divination is plain stupid (you were right, shocker…). Too late to change now, though._

_Have a fun summer and maybe I'll see you soon!_

_Harry_

Hermione huffed to herself as she finished reading the note Harry had sent. Of course she was worried about him; he had just up and disappeared! But it was good to hear that he was having a safe and productive summer. His homework was already done, and he had actually enjoyed it! She would have to ask him what he found so confusing about Transfiguration, perhaps she could help.

She shook her head and set the note down. No doubt Dumbledore would be asking her about it, and if he could read it to find any clues about where Harry had disappeared to. The man had been relentless in searching for him, but before now Hermione had had nothing to say. Harry certainly hadn't told any of his friends about his plan to run.

She wouldn't let Dumbledore read the note anyway, she figured. Harry was happy and he was safe. He had adult supervision where he was, what with Sirius and Professor Lupin, so she wasn't concerned. He sounded happier than he ever had in the summers before. Why should she let Dumbledore ruin it for him?

No, instead she was going to let Harry live his own life. She would see him at school, if not any sooner than that.

_Dear Ginny,_

_Don't worry about my disappearance. I'm fine, haven't been kidnapped or anything. Besides, I was just writing to see if you're okay. No nightmares, right? If you do get any more nightmares just wake up and talk to Ron or Fred (cause I know George sleeps like the dead). They'll help you. _

_Maybe you should consider getting a pet of some sort to help you out. Actually, hold off on that, I have an idea. I'll have to think it through, though, so I'll get back to you on that. _

_I've enclosed some notes from my last year's classes so you can get a head start. Most of these notes I actually took over the last couple weeks of summer, as I spent a lot of time reviewing what I've learned so far. _

_Talk to you later,_

_Harry_

Ginny had been extremely surprised when she received a letter from Harry. And the contents of it had made her smile. Harry was such a thoughtful boy. He was the only one that knew of her nightmares, what with having some of his own. They'd sit up late at night in the common room, drinking hot cocoa brought by that funny house-elf Dobby and talk about everything and nothing.

Getting a pet would actually be a great idea, if it was a kitten or something cuddly like that. But Ginny couldn't afford a new pet, and Harry had told her to hold off anyway, so she would just wait.

As for the notes, as she flipped through them she found them rather insightful. And funny. Harry had a tendency to doodle on his notes, and he made little stick people comics throughout the pages. The notes actually explained things better than the textbook at time, and the comics made them more fun to read.

Yeah, this next year was going to be great.

_Hello Gred and Forge,_

_Think of my disappearance as a great prank. I'm fine, as you can very well tell by this note. I was just writing to ask you to look out for Ginny. She still has some pretty bad nightmares about her first year. She hasn't told you because she doesn't want you to worry._

_I only know because I have nightmares too, so we would sit up and talk at night. It's easy to get her to calm down by giving her hot cocoa and braiding her hair. Just thought you should know._

_As for pranking…I have some great insight into the pranks of the Marauders. I've enclosed a few ideas. (Everyone needs something to laugh about, after all.) I only ask that if you continue to prank people to not make them harmful or overly humiliating (unless they really, really deserve it). There's a fine line between pranking and bullying, after all._

_Cheers,_

_Harry_

Fred and George exchanged glances. They hadn't known anything about Ginny's nightmares, although it sort of made sense now that they thought about it. Harry really was a sweet kid, what with taking care of their baby sister for them. They'd have to keep an eye and ear out for those bad dreams.

Glancing though the notebook that Harry had sent with the note, they grinned at each other. "This is going to be awesome," Fred whispered, skimming over a few of the prank ideas.

"Wonder where he got them," George replied, trying to figure out how Harry could have gotten his hands on some Marauder pranks. They both shrugged it off, though, and retreated to their room.

They had planning to do, after all.

_Neville,_

_Hey, I'm sure you've heard about my vanishing act by now. Don't worry about it. Hope I'm not surprising you too much by writing, but I was told your birthday is the day before mine. I know it's not for a couple weeks yet, but I thought I'd send you your gift early._

_I found these seeds to some interesting plants. I know how much you like Herbology, and I thought you might like having these. I'm no good with magical plants (something about their ability to eat me makes me nervous around them) and I really don't know what these seeds are for, but I hope you enjoy finding out. _

_Happy Birthday!_

_Harry_

Neville had been completely shocked to receive a note from Hedwig. It wasn't that he didn't consider Harry as a friend, it was just that he had never received mail from his schoolmates over the summer. He smiled, though, when Harry wished him a happy early birthday, and then studied the seeds.

He'd never seen these before, which in and of itself was a surprise. He'd definitely have to check this out. And maybe send Harry something back for his birthday as well.

As for Dumbledore, the old man was getting rather annoyed by the children. They had all received letters from the missing Potter boy, but none had given them up. Even when he had only shown concern over Harry's welfare. Every child merely said that Harry was happy and safe, and no he couldn't see their mail, it was theirs and why should they give it up?

Completely frustrated, Dumbledore finally gave up. If Harry said he was safe, than he would just have to believe him. Goodness knows that almost anywhere was better than the Dursleys, even with the blood protection that Dumbledore had set there.

End Chapter


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for all the reviews! I love that everybody seems to be liking this as much as I am! As a note, there are no pairings in this fic. Harry's a little young for that. He's just a sweetheart who cares about his friends. Tonks and Remus may hook up later in the story and if I decide to go past Harry's fourth year I may or may not have him start a relationship. But as for right now…there are no pairings.**

**As another note, every creature mentioned in this story actually exists in mythology. Or Harry Potter. I don't own them, but you're free to look them up to know more about them.**

**Enjoy.**

Chapter Five

Harry and Sirius didn't notice the library door was open until after morning chores were done and they were headed inside for lunch. They exchanged looks with each other, and then grinned, deciding to put off eating until after exploring the library.

It was a nice sized room, in perfect condition. The walls were lined with oak shelving, and the mahogany floor was covered by a large, red rug. On top of the rug, in the middle of the room, was a huge ornate desk. The bookshelf behind the desk was filled with books on magical creatures, and although the other shelves weren't empty, they didn't hold any books. Instead, they held what had to be hundreds of small, sleeping animals.

There were little yellow birds to larger multi-colored ones. Kittens of various breeds, and puppies as well. Reptiles of all sorts, and Harry swore he saw some baby dragons. And they were all asleep in the same way Roy had been.

He turned away from the shelves, focusing on the desk. On it laid a single piece of parchment.

_My dearest Hadrian,_

_Congratulations on creating your home. And now I shall grant you the purpose that I promised you at the start of this endeavor. This land on which the house is located is a sanctuary for endangered magical creatures. You, my child, are to be the caretaker of this Haven._

_For you are a Tamer, and a talented one indeed._

_A Tamer is not someone with special powers or strength, but someone with a pure heart and an honest care for creatures. They are the ones that will know how to care for creatures of all kinds, and become friends with those that choose to be under their care._

_All the creatures under your care have been put into a deep sleep to await your arrival. The smaller ones are here in the library, and the larger ones will be in the forest. Do not fear the creatures, they will not harm you. They will instinctively know that you are a Tamer and are to be trusted. Over time you may even be able to communicate with the more advanced species. _

_In the top drawer of the desk is a potion and the instructions to make more of it. This potion should be fed to your owl and she will become your True Familiar. _

_Past the grain field a little house should have appeared. This is the home of four house elves that shall take care of the grain, hay, and orchard. They will not, however, care for the house, stable, barn or animals. That, Hadrian, is your job. Your purpose._

_Enjoy it, Hadrian, and embrace the gifts it will give._

_Rochelle Evans_

Harry put the letter down, blinking in shock. "Cool," he finally said, looking over to where Sirius was studying the shelves. "It's a good thing I like Care of Magical Creatures…"

"Bambi," Sirius said, pointing to the little yellow birds. "These are snidgets. They went extinct over one hundred years ago."

Harry blinked again and then grinned. "This is so awesome!" he said happily. He then paused. "Hey, what's a True Familiar?"

Sirius shrugged. "It's said that they are familiars that take on the characteristics of the wizard's soul. No one's seen one in ages, though."

"So Voldemort's would be a cockroach?" Harry asked innocently as he crouched to look at a collection of kittens.

Sirius snorted, shaking his head in humor. He didn't, though, grace that question with an answer. "How do we wake these up?" he asked instead.

"I just touched Roy and he woke up," Harry replied. "These are hellcats," he said, pointing at the darkly colored kittens. They looked like normal cats, aside from the spade-tipped tail and bat-like ears. They had also been hunted to extinction nearly seventy years ago. "Let's get some lunch and then start an inventory of what's in here before we wake them up."

"We'll have to explore the forest as well," Sirius pointed out. "That's a lot of ground to cover."

Harry grinned. "Good thing we've got the rest of the summer." They left the library, heading for the kitchen where Harry made some sandwiches. Sirius couldn't cook worth anything, so he just stayed out of the way most of the time.

Scarfing down the sandwiches, Harry grabbed his laptop and they made it back to the library. Turning the machine on, he opened a new document and sat down to type. "Okay, so I'm going to want breed, number and the genders, if we can tell what they are."

"Well, there's fourteen snidgets," Sirius pointed out. "But I have no idea how to tell the difference between male and female." Harry just nodded and typed that up.

They went through the birds first, having to pull down a couple books to figure it out. Two phoenixes, both golden red colors, some jarveys, as well as a few birds that Sirius could have sworn were myths even in the Wizarding world. There were cockatrices, raichos, and xorguinaes. There were even two Ibong Adarnas, their metallic colored feathers shining in the light.

The reptiles were also interesting, as there were quite a few runespoors and fire-salamanders. There were also shelves of little dragons, the names of which were found in the books. Harry found himself especially intrigued by the small baby Guita, a Spanish dragon which was apparently quite feared in its day. Harry found him kind of cute.

Sirius, to Harry's amusement, was quite wary of the winged serpents, although he was willing to count the multi-colored beasts.

There were seven hellcats, three males and four females. There were four Splinter Cats, which were strange cats with hard heads that were able to knock down small trees. They fed exclusively on bees and raccoons, funnily enough, although they'd been hunted to extinction out of fear two hundred years earlier. There were five Matagots, which were strange looking magical cats said to bring good luck. The six Bakanekos were kind of creepy though, being spirit cats that would walk mostly on their hind legs. Six kneazles, although they weren't endangered; Harry learned that for a while they had been, but the popularity of having them as pets had brought them back from the brink.

Eight hellhounds, four of each gender, came next, with their Rottweiler-like bodies, and wolf-like temperaments. There were also four different breeds of Black-Dogs (or other types of hellhounds), a couple from each gender. There were the Shucks, large black dogs with green or red eyes that were said to bring sickness. The Freybug, which were large black dogs said to prey on the drunken. The Kludde, which was actually a shape shifting dog with a blue flame like marking on its head, was known as a people-eater. And, the most amusing, the Padfoot, which was a large white dog with red eyes that was said to haunt sheep fields. They weren't predatory, apparently, but they could be vicious is cornered.

There were a few other strange creatures, such as Timmerdoodles and Billdads. Those were interesting, and mostly North American in origin. Harry closed the laptop as soon as they finished counting up the creatures and figuring out what they were. He was a little surprised by the mundane snow falcon found among the creatures, until Sirius pointed out that if Hedwig became his True Familiar than she probably wouldn't be able to carry his mail any more.

Heaving a sigh and checking the time, Harry decided that they might as well wake the creatures up and let them go into the forest. Except that he really didn't know what was going to keep the creatures from leaving the sanctuary of Haven.

Suddenly, there was a 'pop' and the two wizards spun around, startled. Four house elves stood in front of them, dressed in neat uniforms of black and blue cloth, with an emerald lightning bolt on the left breast. "Master Harry," the obvious leader squeaked, his big eyes focusing on the teenager. "We is wishing to introduce ourselves."

Harry nodded. "I'm Harry Potter and this is my godfather Sirius Black. Please, don't call me 'Master'."

The house elves all blinked at him and the leader sighed. "Of course Mas…sir. I is Dommy. And these is Twinky," a female house elf with large green eyes, "Splink," a male with big blue eyes, "And Margot," a small female with hazel eyes. "We is wishing to tell you that the wards is fixed. No animals be leaving Haven."

"Oh," Harry said, wondering about the timing of that incident. "Excellent. Is there anything you need?"

Dommy shook his head, his large ears flapping. "No sir. We is to be taking care of the fields and orchard. The produce is to be in the shed. When yous is at school, we's be looking after garden and Roy and chickens if no one be home."

"Thank you, Dommy," Harry said, the elf having answered another one of his unasked questions. "You as well, Splink, Twinky, and Margot." The four bowed and curtsied and then popped away. Harry turned to Sirius, "Well…that takes care of that…"

Sirius grinned at his godson and motioned to the animals. "Well, shall we?" he asked. "Tomorrow we can see about finding some of those larger ones that were mentioned."

Harry sighed and nodded, deciding to start with the birds again. They could, after all, just fly away if they wanted to.

While the animals didn't awaken if Sirius handled them, as soon as Harry touched them they woke up. So, Sirius took the effort to carry all the creatures outside so that Harry could wake them up outside and therefore keep the house from being overrun with creatures. The birds all immediately flew away, although the two phoenixes flew about Harry's head for a moment before disappearing with trills.

The reptiles scurried or slithered away as well, as did the smaller rodents and other mammals. The baby dragons were put in the barn to be cared for until they were bigger and able to fend for themselves in the wild.

The cats woke, stretched and slinked off into the forest to hunt. Except for two of them, a hellcat with large green eyes and a strange marking across her back, making her look somewhat like a skunk, and a male tortoise shell kneazle kitten, who curled up on the porch, looking lonely and miserable.

The dogs were playful puppies and all piled around the house, yipping and yapping before running off into the woods to form their own packs and find food. And the falcon, which Harry named Artemis, sat perched on a stand on the porch, his white feathers and golden eyes making him look regal and confident. Harry absently wondered what Hedwig would think of the bird that resembled her and would most likely be taking her job.

He'd worry about that later, however, as Sirius and he went back inside to start putting their multitude of books into the library. They nearly filled the shelves, and Sirius joked that they'd have to get more for the basement when Remus arrived. He also said that he felt a little out of place what with two bookworms in the family.

Harry beamed when Sirius mentioned that they were a family. It felt good, having somewhere to call home and people who cared. "Tomorrow we need to go into town," Harry pointed out. "We need to get some groceries, including meat for the dragons, and the stuff we ordered has arrived at the post office."

"I'll join you as Padfoot," Sirius grinned, flipping his braid over his shoulder. He still hadn't decided on whether or not he wanted to cut his hair. They joked around for a while as Harry made dinner and then retreated to the living room again. Harry blinked when he noticed the hellcat and kneazle still sitting outside the window.

He stood slowly and then shrugged, deciding that if they wanted to stay they very well could. "Well, come on then," he said as he opened the front door. The hellcat slipped gracefully inside, while the kneazle seemed to plod solemnly. Harry shook his head and turned back to the front room, where Sirius was watching the felines with a faint look of annoyance.

"Dogs," Harry muttered to himself, grinning when Sirius shot him a look. The teen then looked over at the hellcat, smiling at the pretty little creature. She really was quite gorgeous, with her slim body and large ears. The white stripe down her back marked her as a possible mixed breed, but Harry wasn't about to take a guess. He didn't know much about hellcats, after all. "I think I'll call you Samara," he said, liking the sound of the name.

The cat gave a small purr and curled up in front of the fireplace. The kneazle, however, just sulked moodily in the corner and Harry gave a huff, walking over and picking the kitten up by its scruff. "You, I'll call Turtle." He paused, eyeing the feline he was holding in front of his eyes. "You don't belong here, do you?" he asked.

"Harry?" Sirius asked, sounding confused. He watched as his godson studied the cat and then shrugged. Harry knew what he was doing, he supposed.

Harry nodded to himself. "Right. You belong to Ginny. I'll send you over to the Burrow as soon as Hedwig gets back."

"Why don't you just send him with Artemis?" Sirius asked, and Harry nearly jumped, having forgotten his godfather was sitting there. "He'd probably enjoy something to do, after all."

Harry nodded again, looking thoughtful. "That's a good idea. I'll do that." He plopped the kitten down in Sirius's lap and wandered off to find some paper and a pen in order to write a note to Ginny. Sirius just gave the cat an exasperated look that was fully returned by the moody little thing.

"Great."

End Chapter


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello to all my readers. I apologize for the short length of this chapter, but I really need to get to the point of the story. Fourth year for Harry, that is. Um…I was actually writing this note to answer some questions people had, but I for the life of me can't remember what they are. Anywho, I don't own Harry Potter. The creatures mentioned are all real mythical creatures that you can look up. Enjoy!**

Chapter Six

Early the next morning, Harry and Sirius quickly but efficiently went though their morning chores, feeding the last of the meat to the baby dragons. They then hooked Roy up to the wagon and headed into town, Padfoot running merrily around the cart and horse. Roy, for his part, just rolled his large eyes good-naturedly, and took care not to step on the large dog.

Loading up their orders didn't take long, as Harry joked with Mister Thomas, the old post-master. Padfoot sat obediently on the sidewalk, blue eyes filled with joy to see his godson to happy.

"And who's this handsome fellow?" Mister Thomas asked, patting Padfoot on the head.

"This is Padfoot," Harry smiled, laughing when the dog held up a paw to shake. "He's my Uncle Sirius's dog."

Mister Thomas shook Padfoot's paw and then scratched behind his ears. "Well behaved mutt," he said fondly. "And how is your Uncle Sirius? Feeling any better?"

"Yes sir," Harry nodded.

"That's good to hear," a familiar voice said behind him and both Harry and Padfoot spun around. "That lump of my brother was beginning to worry me," Remus smiled gently. He laughed when Padfoot jumped up on him, licking his face. "Get down, you old mutt."

"Hi Uncle Remus!" Harry said, darting in to give his favorite professor a hug. He figured that if Remus was calling Sirius his brother, and if he was calling Sirius his Uncle, than that would make Remus his Uncle as well.

"Hello Harry," Remus said fondly, although on the inside he was practically beaming at being called 'uncle'. He nodded to the old post-master, who was smiling at them. "Thank you for helping my nephew."

"Oh, it was no trouble," Mister Thomas replied as he headed back inside. "No trouble at all."

Harry grinned at Remus as Padfoot practically danced around their feet. "Come to join us?"

Remus shrugged, still smiling. "Nothing better to do."

"Awesome." Harry absently patted Roy's neck. "I've got to finish the shopping and then we can head home. You can wait here with Paddlebrains, if you want." Padfoot gave a half-startled, half-annoyed bark at the new nickname, but Remus just laughed.

Miss Millie, who owned the general store was a kind old lady with gray hair and twinkling brown eyes. Today, her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and the apron she wore said, "One by one, the penguins steal my sanity." It made Harry laugh.

"You be sure to come by again, dearie," she said as her son, Jacob who was in his late twenties, loaded Harry's groceries into the cart. Harry promised he would, joined Remus in the cart, and whistled to Padfoot.

And then they were off, heading back home. Upon reaching Haven, Remus was duly impressed by the house, with its glistening windows and well kept yard. Roses climbed up the pillars, the flowers in full bloom, letting out a rich scent. The stone path up to the house was cleared, and flower beds held a jubilant array of blossoms. The garden was filled with massive vegetable plants, and there was a blueberry bush near the edge of the forest.

Harry was quick about unharnessing Roy and brushing him down, letting the Shire horse out to pasture. Sirius and Remus had unloaded the cart by the time he was done, and Sirius had been giving Remus a tour of their home.

"Padfoot!" Harry called, putting away the groceries. "I need to feed the babies again, and then we need to get a move on in exploring the forest!"

"I hear you, Bambi," Sirius said, leading Remus into the kitchen.

The werewolf gave a low whistle. "This is a nice place you've got here, Bambi," he said softly. "And you've got a lot of creatures to take care of?" Sirius had explained a bit about the Tamer business while showing Remus around.

Harry shrugged. "They mostly take care of themselves," he explained. "I'm more of a…park ranger, than I am a zoo-keeper." He finished cutting up the steak he was working on. "Except for the babies."

"Dragons," Sirius clarified, seeing Remus's confused look.

Remus nodded. "Why don't you two go explore and I'll stay here and unpack. I'll take care of the boxes you brought back as well."

"Thanks Remy," Sirius said, grabbing one of the bowls of meat.

"Thanks Remus," Harry grinned, following Sirius out of the house.

They made quick work of feeding the dragons, although one of them tried to eat Sirius's foot, much to his consternation. Harry found the whole thing highly amusing.

They then grabbed the PB and J sandwiches Harry had prepared earlier, and headed into the forest. Six hours later, they were stumbling through the front door, completely exhausted and with a notebook full of creatures that needed to be added to the computer document. They'd only made it about seven miles into the forest before having to turn back. But already, there were quite a few creatures that they'd come across.

Remus joined them in the library, quite amazed at the amount of animals that Harry and Sirius were cataloguing. Near the entrance of the forest, they had come across a small herd of unicorns. There was a small group of gryphons as well.

The thestrals had been cause for an odd conversations, as both Remus and Sirius wanted to know why Harry could see a creature that only those that had witnessed death could see. His reply of "I saw my mother die, and the dementors only clarified it," didn't make them feel any better. Neither the added, "And Professor Quirell died in front of me as well. Technically, I suppose you could say I killed him."

There had been colonies of bowtruckles and elemental fairies. Buckbeak had been joined by four other hippogriffs. There were seven Pegasus and even a herd of what they found were called Unipegs.

A large lake had ended their travel, as they would have to find a way around it later. Inside the lake, though, they had come across a colony of merpeople (who had not been put to sleep), and a herd of hippocampus. There was also a small kraken, much like the giant squid at Hogwarts, and two sea serpents that were quite large and Harry enjoyed talking to.

Tomorrow they'd take Buckbeak and fly the rest of the forest. With any luck, they could get this done quickly enough, because Hedwig had come back with the message that Ron's family had gotten tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, and Harry didn't want to miss that.

He stroked his owl's fine plumage, and then smiled. "Hedwig," he said softly. "I have a potion that will turn you into my True Familiar. Would you like to take it?"

The owl bobbed her head, giving a soft hoot, and Harry grinned. "Well, then," he said, getting to his feet and allowing the bird to land lightly on his shoulder. "Let's go out to the barn, so that you have space if you get too large."

The next morning brought a pleasant surprise; Hedwig had definitely changed. She was much larger now, and seemed to be a mix of an owl, a lion, and a dragon, giving her an elegant chimera looking form. She had the head of an owl, although much larger in comparison to most fowl, the body of a lion, but scaled like a dragon, and a long tail that ended in a fan of large, white feathers. Her wings were also large and feathered with delicate looking white plumage, although upon touch Harry found that they were much stronger than they seemed. All in all, Hedwig was absolutely gorgeous.

'_Hello, my Harry,"_ a voice spoke in his mind, and Harry gave a jump.

"Hedwig?" he asked incredulously.

The rich, feminine voice laughed. _'Who else would it be?'_

Harry grinned. "This is so awesome." And that was the truth, because honestly, it really was completely awesome.

End Chapter


	7. Chapter 7

**Howdy ya'll! I'm back again…this fic is actually the fastest one I've ever written…and I'm writing six others I haven't even posted yet on the side. Okay, to answer some questions: Artemis is a male falcon. Yes, I know that Artemis was a goddess, but I like it as a boy name…I actually think I want to name my son that…if I can talk my husband into it. Not that we're having kids yet…but soon. Maybe. Anyway, since I got off track there…um…oh, yes. There will be an eventual pairing, just not in this fic. The sequel, yes. Because I do plan to go on. And yes, it's slash, but not explicit as I have my limits. And the pairing is already chosen. You'll know who it is by the end of the fic. Some may even be able to guess sooner than that. And yes, I realize that I have changed some personalities (Ron…) but there are reasonings behind everything. Everyone grows up eventually. **

**Anywho, enjoy Chapter Seven. And I'll be seeing you around!**

**Hikaru Kosuzaku**

Chapter Seven

Two weeks later saw Harry packing his trunk for his stay with the Weasleys. He'd be spending the last week of summer with them before going to Hogwarts, the Quidditch World Cup part of the plans for that week.

Sirius and Remus were a tad reluctant to let him go, as last night he'd had a dream involving Voldemort and Wormtail, as well as an unnamed Death Eater. This dream had caused Harry pain, especially when an old muggle man had been killed, and both Remus and Sirius were afraid of it happening again. But Harry talked them down and they eventually gave in.

As it was, Harry was giving some last minute instructions to the two adults regarding the creatures in the forest. The baby dragons had been released into the care of two fully grown dragons. The large black female, a Storm Dragon capable of creating massive lighting storms, had been christened Ramoth, while the large bronze Earth dragon, a male, was named Mnementh. They were caring parents to the thirteen babies, although even they had trouble with the hyper little things sometimes.

"Taipan escapes at times," Harry warned, speaking of the small oriental water dragon. "And the merpeople are getting tired of him flooding the lake. So you may want to check on him every once and a while."

Sirius nodded, grinning at Remus. Their little Bambi had taken this calling to heart. It showed in the calm, expert manner in which he handled the creatures. And that calmness also extended towards his studies, mostly those of defense. Remus had been startled to find himself at a stalemate during one of their practice duels, although that was only once, and Harry had yet to actually beat him.

"The wards have been reworked, so Moony's safe to run in three nights," Harry added, grinning at his two guardians. "Although, I ask that you stay away from the Pegasus, as they're rather skittish. Oh and the Freybug pack will probably want to run with you. Be nice to them; they're just puppies." He paused, thinking. "I'm pretty sure that's all you have to worry about, although Harley is going to give birth in about three weeks."

"The Nundu?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. Sometimes it was difficult to keep up with all the animals' names. But he was pretty sure that Harley and Joker were the mated Nundu pair. Harry had spent his evenings catching up on his childhood, watching cartoons and reading books. It showed in the naming of his creatures, as they had names from the Pern books to names from comic books. There were even some creatures named after people on television shows, which Harry watched on his computer.

"Yup," Harry chirped. He laughed as Samara came into the room and twined around Sirius's legs. The hellcat had by this point nearly doubled in size, and at full growth would probably be the size of a bobcat. There were some hellcats, though, that could get up to the size of a full grown cougar, which was probably why they'd been so feared. Samara, however, seemed to take great pleasure in annoying Sirius, who frankly wasn't much of a cat person if you overlooked Crookshanks.

Sirius groaned, glaring down at the cat. "You sure you can't take the skunk with you?" he asked, and then yelped as Samara swiped his leg with her claws in offense.

Harry rolled his eyes, still laughing. "You never learn, Siri," he said. Aside from the white stripe down her back, Samara looked nothing like a skunk. She was far too sleek and slender, not to mention graceful, for that. "Besides, I can only take one pet, and I'm taking Artemis."

"What about Hedwig?" Remus asked, scooping the hellcat into his arms. For being a werewolf, the two of them got along just fine.

"Hedwig goes where she wants," Harry shrugged. "Although I hope she'll be at Hogwarts."

'_I will be there, my Harry,'_ Hedwig replied in his mind, her voice as silky and calming as always. _'I will leave for the forest within a few days time. Someone has to make sure you don't skip meals…'_

Harry nodded to himself and Remus and Sirius took that to mean that Hedwig had spoken to him. He tended to do that often, as the owl-dragon was quite the mothering type and saw Harry as her chick. Often, she was the one that reminded the boy that it was time to eat or sleep, even going so far as to literally pull him out of the woods at times.

Harry shrunk down his trunk with a tap of his wand, and they made their way to the porch. He stroked Artemis's feathers, standing next to the perch the falcon was resting on. "Alright, boy. You're going to meet me at the Burrow, okay?" The falcon chirped twice and then took off, his wings nearly silent in flight.

Sirius pulled Harry into a tight hug. He'd filled out in the month at Haven, looking much healthier and quite a bit happier. His hair was loose today, shining in the afternoon sun, and still not cut. "Have a good time at school, Bambi. You have the mirror, call if you need anything."

Harry nodded, and then turned to hug Remus. "Stay safe, Harry," the werewolf scolded fondly. "No dementors or philosopher's stones or basilisks." Harry had been quite pleased to find that he wouldn't need to take care of any basilisks at Haven, as they were created and not born. As such, they weren't even considered in the same category as the other magical creatures at Haven, so being a Tamer wouldn't have affected them anyway.

Harry nodded again, not trusting himself to stay anything. For the first time ever, he didn't want to leave for school. Hogwarts, although he loved the castle with all his heart, was no longer home, Haven was. It was a bittersweet feeling. He took the portkey and disappeared from view.

Sirius exchanged a look with Remus, leaning against one of the porch columns, careful of the thorny vines wrapped around it. "Our Bambi's growing up, isn't he?"

Remus nodded, smiling slyly. "He sure is. Our world is screwed."

Harry just barely managed to land on his feet, although he stumbled slightly upon arrival. He grinned as he looked up at the Burrow, in all its glory. It may not be Haven, or even Hogwarts, but it was still a great place to be.

"Harry!"

Harry had just enough time to brace himself so he wouldn't fall before Hermione practically tackled him in a huge hug. She was joined by Ginny, and Harry finally lost balance and fell over when Ron and Neville joined the group hug with a laugh. The pile of teenagers laughed happily, falling over each other as they tried to untangle themselves. The other Weasleys, all brought to the front door at the sound of the commotion, smiled indulgently.

Fred and George eventually waded into the tangle of limbs to help get them all to their feet. George clapped Harry on the shoulder after the teen was standing. "Good to see you, mate," he said with a manic grin.

"Good summer?" Fred asked, hauling Ginny up.

"The best," Harry answered with a large grin. The other kids all smiled at that; it was good to see Harry so happy. And he definitely looked a lot better than he usually did after summer. Although he was still small and thin, he wasn't unhealthily so. He had a nice tan from working outside, and calluses on his hands from the work. His muscle tone had filled out, and it proved just how hard he had worked this summer. His clothes all fit, although his jeans were stained and worn from hard work, and he no longer had his glasses, having decided to fix his eyesight by potion. Professor Snape had been surprisingly helpful on that front, once Harry had promised to let him see the book he'd gotten the potion from.

"Did you have a good birthday?" Hermione asked as they all walked back to the house.

"I did," Harry said, still smiling. "Thank you for the Thunderbirds DVDs," he added, and Hermione laughed. Harry had written and asked her about her favorite television shows growing up, and that had been the first one she had recommended. He seemed to have liked it as well. Harry turned to the others, grinning. "Thanks for the chocolate, Ron. And for the amulet, Ginny. And the pranks made for a lovely war, Gred, Forge." And they had; Remus and Sirius were ruthless when it came to prank wars, which made for great training in defense. And paranoia. And the chocolate was great for bribery, as Remus was a bit of a chocoholic. And the phoenix amulet that Ginny had given him was actually on a leather cord around his neck right at that moment.

"And thanks for the pictures, Nev," Harry added with a smile for Neville.

"Back at ya," Neville replied. The two had exchanged many pictures of their mothers, including stories that were told about them, over the summer. Neville had created a photo-book for Harry's birthday. "Thanks for inviting me to the World Cup," the shy boy added. Harry had decided to buy his own ticket, and let the Weasleys give Neville the one that had been intended for him. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had thought that to be very sweet of Harry, and had complied. "Those seeds you sent me, though…Most of them were from extinct plants! It's amazing!"

Harry grinned. "Awesome!"

"Harry dear, it's so good to see you," Molly said, pulling him into a hug as soon as he was close enough.

"It's good to be here, Mrs. Weasley," Harry replied honestly. He pulled back, happy that Molly wasn't lamenting his poor health this time around. It was good to be healthy.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore, who had arrived earlier that morning and was standing in a corner, said. "If I could have a moment of your time."

Harry frowned lightly, knowing what this would be about, and then shrugged, following the headmaster into an empty room. "Is there something you need, sir?" he asked politely.

Dumbledore was frowning sternly at him. "May I ask, Mr. Potter, why you left the safety of your Aunt's house?"

Harry shrugged again, unconcerned. "You never explained to me why I had to go back every year. They didn't want me there, I didn't want to be there, so I left."

Dumbledore eyed him shrewdly for a long while, and he could see how well Harry was this summer. It was definitely different from summers past. Perhaps he had made a grave mistake placing the boy with his relatives. "Are you safe, my boy?" he asked softly.

Harry nodded. "Quite. No one can find us if we don't want to be found."

"Us?"

Harry smiled. "Remus and Sirius were with me. They're still at home."

"Ah," Dumbledore nodded. "I had wondered where they had disappeared to. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so confused…" He eyed Harry for a moment longer. "Were the Dursleys really so bad, Harry?"

Harry fidgeted, not looking Dumbledore in the eye as he considered his answers. "I'd really…rather not say. Headmaster."

That seemed to confirm it for Dumbledore, who sighed sadly, the twinkle disappearing from his eye. "Then I am sorry for leaving you there all these years. I had Arabella Figg watching you and reporting to me, but she only said that you weren't happy. Not that you were in any danger, or had been harmed in any way. I apologize for any pain you have gone through."

Harry blinked, shocked by this apology. He had been certain that Dumbledore was just going to tell him that he had to return to his relatives after the school year. Instead, it looked as though he was trusting Harry to keep himself safe at Haven.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said softly. "At the end of the school year remind me to tell you something important." Because this Harry was ready for the truth.

Harry tilted his head to one side. "Is this about the prophecy, sir?" he asked, and Dumbledore looked shocked at his knowledge. "Remus and Sirius told me there was a prophecy about me and Voldemort. But they didn't know all of it."

Dumbledore gave a single nod. "Yes, my boy. At the end of the school year I shall tell you the rest of the prophecy. But for now, I hope you enjoy your time at the World Cup. I shall see you on September first." The headmaster than turned and was whisked away by the green flames of the floo. Harry stood blinking at the fireplace for a short moment before turning at the sound of a cough.

Two older redheads were standing at the entrance to the living room, one leaning against the doorframe, the other with his hands shoved in his pockets. The one leaning against the frame was wearing a black suit, his long, bright red hair pulled back in a loose tie, and the dragon-fang earring hanging from one ear. He had obviously just gotten back from some kind of meeting. This, Harry guessed, was Bill, the oldest of the Weasley children.

The other was wearing torn jeans, and a black leather vest. His own red hair was messy, as though he'd just gotten out of bed, and he had multiple piercings in one ear. His bare arms were covered in a myriad of scars, but there was a wicked grin on his face. Harry assumed this was Charlie, the dragon tamer.

"Hello, mates," Harry said with a grin. "Bill and Charlie I presume? It's nice to finally meet you."

"You as well," Bill said, straightening up so that he could shake Harry's hand. "We've heard so much about you from all the others it feels as though I already know you."

"Same," Charlie said, shaking Harry's hand as well. "Mum wanted us to find you and tell you that dinner is ready. We're eating out back tonight, since there's so many of us here." Harry nodded and followed the two out, Charlie swinging a friendly arm over his shoulders.

"So," Harry stated casually, waving to Mr. Weasley, who had made it back for dinner. "You're a dragon tamer?"

Charlie grinned and the two started a long conversation about dragons, which eventually devolved into Defense Against the Dark Arts, when Bill was pulled into the talk. The two eldest Weasley children were amazed at how knowledgeable Harry was about both their subjects (curse-breaking being part of defense, after all), and enjoyed the talk immensely. They were also surprised to find Neville and Ginny chatting happily about plants, and Ron and Hermione discussing their history homework.

Ron's change in attitude towards his schoolwork had shocked the entire family, actually. When asked, he said that Harry had pointed something out to him. And when his parents had given in and asked how he was doing in the studying, he said that he had changed his way of looking at things. Spells were broken down now, in his mind, and recreated as one would see them on a chess board. Potions as well. Every wand movement, every ingredient…they all had specific jobs, just as the pieces on a chess board did. He still didn't enjoy subjects such as potions or transfiguration, but he understood them better, making him at least adequate enough to get good grades.

History, though, had quickly become his favorite subject. He loved learning about the wars and the tactics used in them. As it was, he and Hermione were having a friendly argument over the tactics used during the War of 1213, and how if they had done some things differently, a lot less lives would have been lost.

Harry sat back as Bill and Charlie argued over some curse or the other, thinking about an idea he had. He'd have to flesh it out some more, and in order to do that, he'd have to talk to the others. "Mione," he called across the table. She looked up at him, blinking. "I have an idea. I need to talk to you later." He paused. "Ron, Ginny and Neville as well."

All four of them nodded and then returned to their conversations. Harry turned back to the two eldest Weasley sons just in time to see Charlie stick his tongue out at Bill. He laughed. "Just how old are you again?" he asked in amusement.

Charlie grinned his wild grin. "Twenty, mate. But I'll always be a child at heart."

Bill reached over and ruffled Charlie's hair, laughing when the dragon tamer ducked out of the way, scowling. "Wouldn't want you any other way, Chuck."

Harry grinned. "So long as you don't act as childish as the twins, I'm good."

"Oi!" Fred yelped, as he and George overheard.

"What's that—"

"Supposed to—"

"Mean?" both Fred and George finished together.

Harry gave the two of them an impish smile. "The two of you are like a pair of three-year-olds on drugs."

The table burst into laughter as the twins pouted. It was a pretty accurate description, after all. "You're asking for it," Ron laughed. "They're going to prank you into oblivion."

Harry snickered. "Bring it on. I'm the son, godson and nephew of the Marauders. They don't stand a chance." This bit of news shocked the twins so much they fell out of their chairs. But Harry didn't answer any of their questions, instead he merely sat there, smiling serenely. It was the cause of much more amusement for those assembled.

Finally, though, dinner was finished. They would have to go to bed soon, as they were getting up rather early to catch the portkey to the World Cup. Harry and his friends congregated in the corner of the living room, while Fred and George wandered off to torment Percy and Bill and Charlie helped their parents clean up.

"What did you want to talk about, Harry?" Hermione asked, her curiosity not wanting to wait any longer.

Harry shrugged. "I'm really not sure how to word this…" He thought for a long moment. "House boundaries are stupid."

"Well," Ginny said slowly, blinking. "That was blunt."

Ron looked like he was about to disagree, and then he shrugged. Not all Slytherins were evil; Professor Snape may hate Harry but he had saved his life a few times. And they personally knew a Gryffindor Death Eater so, perhaps Harry had something with that train of thought. He glanced at Neville and they both kept their mouths shut.

"And I think it's time we get rid of some misconceptions," Harry continued. "Muggle-born students are at a huge disadvantage. They know nothing about the Wizarding World, and there is no way for them to learn. And pure-bloods are only ignorant because they refuse to learn about muggles…so what if we changed that?"

"How?" Neville asked softly, wondering why they wanted him here. He wasn't part of the Golden Trio, and he wasn't even a sibling, like Ginny was.

Harry smiled at him. "We get a hold of the first years before they can be brainwashed by their houses."

"Mate," Ron said, wanting to make a point. "Some of those first years are brainwashed before they come to Hogwarts. Malfoy's always been a git."

Hermione shrugged. "You have a point. But so does Harry. So…what are you suggesting?" she asked, turning back to the black-haired teen.

"First week study hall…we gather the first years from all the houses and split them up. You and I will teach the pure-bloods and wizard-raised about muggles, and Ron, Ginny and Neville can teach the muggle-born and raised all about the wizarding world. Nothing too in depth, but enough that everyone is well informed." He grinned. "We do that and we'll already be breaking house boundaries."

Ginny nodded. "Yes. That could work. We'd have to come up with lesson plans, so to speak, so we don't just stumble along."

"I can do that," Hermione mentioned. "For the muggle lessons, that is."

"I can take care of the wizard ones with Nev," Ron said. Ginny pointed out that she'd help as well and then Molly was calling for all of them to go to bed. They all smiled at each other and said good night, excited for the World Cup tomorrow.

End Chapter


	8. Chapter 8

**To those wondering why Harry would be gay when all he wanted was to be normal: I actually had the following reasons before you brought them up. Also, I'm going on the decision that gay couples are rather common in the Wizarding World. Um…let's see…I'm not quite sure if there was anything else I was going to address. Oh right. Yes, this will be slash. Eventually. The couple becomes obvious at the very end of this fic, but it's a very, very slow forming relationship even after that. Harry's only fourteen and fighting a war: relationships aren't on his mind right now. **

**Enjoy**

Chapter Eight

Harry Potter was used to waking up early. This was usually because of the nightmares he suffered from pretty much nightly. At Haven he had morning chores to distract him from the dreams. At the Burrow, he didn't have that outlet.

He wasn't, however, the only one to suffer from nightmares here. As such, he wasn't surprised when Ginny joined him, handing over a steaming cup of tea. She sat down on the couch next to him, her legs curled under her as she sipped at her own tea. Turtle, looking much happier than he had at Haven, leapt up onto her lap, sprawling comfortably.

"The Dursleys?" she asked softly, recognizing his withdrawn silence. Nightmares of Voldemort tended to leave him fidgety. At Harry's nod, she sighed.

For all that Harry lived through horrific things at Hogwarts, the majority of his nightmares came from his earlier years. Only she knew what they were really about, although Hermione had her suspicions. "Aunt or Uncle?" she asked.

"Aunt," Harry answered dully, his fingers curling around the mug he was holding.

Ginny let her eyes slide shut in despair. Those dreams were always the worst. His aunt was the reason she had given up on Harry ever falling in love with her. She, Petunia, was the reason why Harry had been so uncomfortable with females touching him. It had taken a lot of harmless hugs from Hermione to make him stop flinching every time a girl touched him.

Ginny contented herself with the knowledge that Harry loved her just as much as her brothers did. It was the best she would ever get, and he was glad that she had abandoned her useless crush. Still, it angered her that Petunia was getting away with the torture she had put her nephew through. It was even worse than the beatings Harry had suffered under both Dudley and Vernon's hands. "It wasn't your fault, Harry," Ginny said, a repetition of conversations past. She knew better than to try and touch him after one of those dreams, otherwise she would probably be giving him a hug. "What your aunt did was perverted and wrong, and in no way your fault."

"I just want to be normal," Harry whispered into the darkness.

"Normal's overrated."

They sat in silence for a moment before Harry finally turned to look at her. "Why are you up so early?"

"Chamber," Ginny shrugged. The nightmares woke her, and they frightened her. But in her waking hours she couldn't bring herself to be afraid, because she knew she was better than Riddle could ever be. Harry had shown her that. Harry gave a nod and Ginny set her mug down. "Come on. The others should be getting up soon. You can help me start breakfast."

Bill moved before the two teens could run across him. He had woken when Harry had snuck down the stairs, but he himself had only snuck down when Ginny had followed their guest downstairs. He would be honest with himself when he admitted that he was worried about leaving his baby sister alone with a boy in the early hours of the morning.

The stilted conversation quickly made him dismiss those notions. He didn't fully understand what was going on, but the conclusions he drew from the few words spoken left him feeling disgusted. No child should fear his family for any reason, especially for those of abuse. Bill shook his head, running a hand through his hair. He'd have to figure out what to do about this situation without calling any outside attention to it. Harry didn't deserve that.

By the time the rest of the early birds were awake and sitting at the table, Ginny was in stitches. Breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast had been prepared by the two teens, but Harry was facing the counter with his hands on his hips. Turtle sat contentedly in front of him.

"Well, if you wanted a friend, you should have said so at Haven," Harry pointed out, waving a wooden spoon at the kneazle. Turtle gave a small mew and the boy rolled his eyes. "Oh, go find Crookshanks."

Turtle jumped off the counter and walked out of the room, tail held high. The boys at the table all watched until the kneazle disappeared, and then turned back to look at Harry. "First snakes, now cats?" Ron mumbled tiredly.

"Turtle's a kneazle, Ron," Harry replied with a grin.

Hermione tilted her head to one side, interested. That had looked like an actual conversation between the two. "Did he talk back?" she asked. "Could you understand him?"

"Sure," harry shrugged, much to their surprise. That hadn't been the answer they had been expecting. "Only, not so much with words as…um…impressions."

"That is so cool," Hermione murmured, although she wasn't entirely sure how such interactions would work. She'd have to look it up once at Hogwarts. She turned her attention back to her food when Harry refused to explain. Ron and Neville were both somewhere between eating and sleeping, and the twins were complaining about the unfairness of the three elder brothers being able to sleep in.

Not long after, the group of teens and Arthur were meeting up with Amos and Cedric Diggory for the portkey to the campgrounds. Harry and Cedric joked around, quite comfortable with each other, despite Cedric's guilt over last year's game. Harry didn't quite understand that; it was just a game, after all. Harry had always regarded Cedric as a good candidate for a big-brother type figure, so he didn't hold the boy's guilt against him either.

The campsite was crowded and busy with people running to and from and all over. And Harry was fascinated by the tents. They were much larger on the inside than out, like the Tardis in Doctor Who, which made Hermione giggle when he mentioned it. Magic was definitely amazing.

And then came the game itself.

The mascots had been fun to watch, although Harry couldn't really see the appeal of the veela. After everything Petunia had done, he didn't think he'd ever see women as sexually alluring. There was no attraction there, although Harry could admit that the veela were pretty. So, he kept a hold of the back of Ron's shirt while Hermione did the same to Neville, and everyone was kept from making a fool of themselves.

The game itself was intense, and Harry found himself absolutely amazed by Krum's skill as a seeker. Harry spotted the snitch just seconds before the Bulgarian, and foretold the results of the game. Krum would want to end it on his terms; the Irish chasers were just too good for the Bulgarian keeper.

Krum got the snitch and the Irish won the game. Watching Charlie and Bill celebrate the win was fun, especially when Bill (who was dressed more comfortably in what would be similar to a muggle rock star, as opposed to a business man) grabbed Ginny around the waist and spun her around. She shrieked with laugher, and the humor was contagious. Fred and George were in rather high spirits, and Harry found himself somewhat wary of their grins.

That night, though, things took a turn for the worst. They were woken by screams and told to run. The camp was in flames, people in black robes and white skull masks throwing spells left and right. Death Eaters, not many, but enough to make everyone panic.

Harry frowned at that. The Death Eaters were rather outnumbered, but everyone was refusing to fight, instead running around blindly in a panic. Glancing at Ron he realized that the strategist had seen it too, but Ron was more reluctant to start throwing around his own spells.

But then George got hit with an unknown spell, and he fell limp. Fred fell to a stunner, and suddenly Harry had a shield up and was leading his friends in an attack on the Death Eaters. Ginny and Neville held the shields over then as Ron, Hermione and Harry threw offensive spells, Harry's quite a few years ahead of his peers'.

The evil wizards turned to the group of five kids standing over two older teens, throwing themselves into destroying those who stood against them. The sudden barrage of spells shattered their shields, but Harry covered them until they could be replaced.

Hedwig was in his mind, fueling his anger and desperation with the breath of a dragon. He fought, spun, and cut down their enemies as Ron and Hermione watched his back and Ginny and Neville watched theirs. He wasn't as skilled as the Death Eaters, but he knew enough to hold his own and his mind was occupied by a dragon that didn't know the meaning of surrender.

A green skull and snake appeared in the sky, the sign of Voldemort, and the Death Eaters apparated away. The aurors appeared, too late to be of any help (which was telling of the ministry) and started restraining the Death Eaters that had been taken down. They gave the teens wide berth and wary looks, amazed by the fifteen downed wizards surrounding them.

Harry dropped to his knees, gasping for breath as Hedwig left him. His shoulder burned from a cutting curse, and he felt weak and dizzy. Hermione was whimpering from what appeared to be a broken hand—not her wand hand—and Ron's face was bloody from a wound to his head. Ginny collapsed onto her butt next to Fred, and Neville was down on one knee, looking at his broken wand in dismay.

But they were all alive, although the twins were still both unconscious. And suddenly, Arthur, Bill and Charlie were there, frantic with worry and amazed to find the kids still relatively safe. The worst injured was actually George, since they didn't actually know what he had been hit with.

Harry passed out from blood loss and pure exhaustion somewhere in between the campsite and St. Mungos. He could faintly remember being carried by strong, scarred arms—Charlie?—before the world had gone dark. He was healed up, though, and given blood replenishers and released two days later with the rest of his friends. Hermione's hand was perfectly healed, as was Ron's head. Ginny and Neville had escaped any serious injury, and Fred had merely had to sleep off the strong stunner he'd been hit with. George, though, was still weak from the curse he had been hit with, and had been told to take it easy.

The five teens, upon being released from the hospital, made their way to Diagon Ally for school shopping. They hadn't, however, anticipated their sudden popularity that plagued them. They took advantage of the discounts offered, but were a little perturbed until they saw the papers and understanding whipped through them. The papers were filled with stories about the five students who took down fifteen Death Eaters and only received minor injuries. Harry Potter was featured most of all, much to his annoyance. The Death Eaters were not named and most had already 'escaped'—probably paying their way out of Azkaban.

"Where did you learn those spells, Harry?" Hermione asked as they took a break from shopping. She took a bite of her ice-cream, seated outside Fortesque's and eyeing Harry curiously. She'd been wondering since that night, after all.

Harry shrugged. "I had a productive summer."

Neville glanced up from where he was studying his new wand, 13 inch cherry wood with unicorn hair core. "Will you teach us?"

"Of course!" Harry grinned. "Although you guys were bloody amazing."

"Mate," Ron pointed out, raising his eyebrows. "You were like a bloody dragon when you fought. It was scary!"

Again, Harry shrugged. "Hedwig was aiding me." He got a lot of strange looks for that. He hadn't explained about his owl-turned-dragon yet.

"That reminds me," Ginny piped up. "Why isn't Hedwig carrying your mail anymore? Not that Artemis isn't gorgeous, or anything."

"Have you all heard of True Familiars?" Harry asked. Everyone nodded and Neville pointed out that there hadn't been a True Familiar in decades. Harry waved that tidbit of information aside. "Hedwig became my True Familiar. She's a little too big to carry mail now, so Artemis took that job."

"You named your male falcon after a goddess," Hermione pointed out with a smile. Harry laughed and shrugged, stating it was still a good name and the falcon hadn't protested. They resumed shopping after that, and their last stop was Madam Malkin's for their new robes. Apparently this year they needed dress robes, which meant there was going to be a ball sometime throughout the year.

Neville shocked them all by asking Ginny to accompany him to whatever ball it was, and she squealed when he said he'd cover the cost of her robes. Emboldened by Neville's success, Ron turned and asked Hermione, who said yes with a brilliant smile. Harry then footed the bill for both his friends' robes, saying it was a thank you for watching his back.

That night he received a frantic mirror-call from Remus and Sirius. They'd been worried ever since hearing about the attack, although they knew from the papers that all the kids were fine. After calming them, Harry spoke about rather inconsequential things. He then brought up his first-year plan, and got support on both sides, as well as some advise.

Harry then gave some instructions regarding a stray hippocampi and laughed when Sirius complained about one of the chickens. In his godfather's defense, though, Bloody Mary had been named such for a reason. They then exchanged 'I love you's and said goodnight.

End Chapter


	9. Chapter 9

**Note: I am not forcing you to read this fic. If you don't like it, don't read it. Don't tell me how much you dislike it in every single blasted chapter I post. Just don't. It makes me grouchy. **

**Another note: This is not a romance story. There will be no romance. Not until, like, the seventh book.**

**And last note: For those of you wondering if it will eventually be Sirius/Harry. Ew. No. Not at all.**

Chapter Nine

They were comfortably seated in one of the train's many compartments. George was curled up in the corner near the window, sleeping soundly as Fred was off with Lee doing whatever it was that they were doing. Harry was sitting next to him, with Neville on his other side. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were lounging on the seat across from them.

Harry fingered the large white feather Artemis had brought him that morning, marveling at how feather-like it was while being hard as dragon scale. Hedwig's way of saying to have a good trip, he supposed. "So, do we have all the plans ready for 'Brainwash-the-Firsties'?"

"Harry," Hermione scolded, although she was smiling. "We're not brainwashing them. We're doing the complete opposite. And yes, we have all the plans ready. Everything from cinema to money to nuclear bombs."

"And money to legends to wizard slang," Ron added. He grinned. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but this is going to be fun."

Neville and Ginny grinned as well, also clearly excited about this strange plan. Harry was glad, and he could only hope that this idea would be well met with their peers. Or at least most of them. "Alright," Harry nodded. "Then tomorrow during study hall we'll kidnap the midgets."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Sorry to break it to you, Harry, but you're the same size as most of those firsties."

"Am not," Harry retorted, sticking his tongue out childishly. Sure, he was smaller than most kids his age—thank you Dursleys—but he wasn't as small as an eleven-year-old. Well, most of them, anyway.

The others laughed at that and the conversation devolved into a game of exploding snap. Malfoy stopped by for his annual visit, but before he could start with the insults and threats, Harry slammed the door shut in his face. Their laughter at Draco's gobsmacked look woke George, who grumbled at them before falling back to sleep.

Harry eyed him worriedly, placing a hand against George's forehead. "I think he's got a fever," Harry muttered as George squirmed away from his cold hand.

"You'll make someone a good little wife, someday," Ginny teased, watching as Harry pulled a matchbox from his pocket. The matchbox turned out to be his truck, which he enlarged and pulled a knitted red and gold blanket from. He turned and made a face at Ginny as he tucked the blanket around the slightly shivering twin. "Not that that's a bad thing," Ginny added quickly. "Where'd you get that blanket?"

"My grandmother made it for my father," Harry answered. "I found it in my family vault."

"That's awesome, Harry!" Hermione said, clearly happy that Harry was gaining more items from his family. Harry seemed quite happy about that as well.

The rest of the trip was made contentedly, Fred joining them near the end. He promised to send George up to the Hospital Wing upon arrival at the school, running a hand through George's hair in fond concern. It was raining, but this was England so that was nothing new. It did, however, make all the students glad to make it to the Great Hall.

Hermione took notes during the Sorting, writing down the names and houses of all the first years. She got odd looks from the other Gryffindors, but those in the know grinned at her in appreciation. That would definitely make things easier.

After the sorting, however, was the biggest shock. Not only was Quidditch canceled for the year (the horror!) but Hogwarts would be hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournament. There was an age limit of seventeen to complete, and Harry had to admit that was smart.

"Would you compete if you could?" Neville asked as they made their way up to their common room.

"Maybe," Ron said thoughtfully. "If I was in the seventh year. Eternal glory doesn't mean much if you're dead."

Hermione practically gaped. "Ron…that was actually well thought out!" She smiled sheepishly at the look he shot her. "I don't want to compete at all."

"Me neither," Harry replied fervently. "I've got enough 'eternal glory' to last me and frankly the money isn't worth my life."

"Smart," Ginny murmured. "Although that money is still tempting."

"I'd pay you all double that amount just to keep you out of that farce," Harry said, shocking all his friends with his vehemence. "I'd do more than that to keep you all alive and safe." It was a testament to their friendship and all four of them took that to heart.

The next morning they got their school schedules, and all the fourth years groaned in unison. Double Potions with the Slytherins was first, followed by History of Magic and then Double Charms. Lunch was followed by study hall, then Double Defense and an elective course, for the four it was Care of Magical Creatures. Tomorrow would bring Double Herbology, and an elective followed by Lunch, study hall and another double Transfiguration, as well as their other elective course.

Everyone was shocked when every first year received a note from the school owls, but they all just shrugged it off. The five ate quickly, said goodbye to Ginny, who was headed to Charms, and trudged to the dungeons.

They sat in the back corner, as usual, Hermione paired with Neville and Harry with Ron. Professor Snape stopped at their table though, sneering down at them. The Slytherins all started snickering, thinking that the four were about to lose points or gain a detention. Instead, Harry just smiled pleasantly and held out a thin, old, leather bound book. "Thank you again for your help, Professor," he said earnestly, much to the surprise of, well, everyone. "Here's that book I was talking about. Just get it back to me whenever you're done with it."

Snape took the book and gave Harry a nod. He then spun around and snapped for the class to get started with the potion on the board. The rest of the class went smoothly, and all four turned in potions worthy of at least an 'A' if not higher. Neville seemed to be particularly shocked by this.

History of Magic with the Ravenclaws would have been boring as usual, but Ron led the others in a rather fun reenactment of a certain wizarding battle that took place in the fifteen hundreds. That was the most they had learned in that class, and they had even gotten to 'kill' each other during that learning. Professor Binns just kept teaching as he usually did, apparently not noticing that his students weren't paying attention to them.

By the time lunch had come and gone, all the first years were standing in the Entrance Hall as the morning notes had instructed. The Slytherins were glaring at the Gryffindors, who looked ready to start a fight. The Ravenclaws looked curious and the Hufflepuffs were nervous.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Ginny exclaimed as she came to a stop between the snakes and lions, her long red hair back in a braid (to keep out of her potions, of course). "Don't tell me you're already starting this house feud? It's only the second day!"

Harry gave her a small smile as he joined them, causing some whispering amongst the children. "Calm down, Gin. They've obviously been brainwashed already." There were rather flabbergasted looks at that.

"But you hate Slytherins," a small Gryffindor pointed out, looking confused. Clearly there had been some stories told last night.

"I don't hate Slytherins," Harry gently corrected while Hermione and Ron made sure everyone was there. "If fact, I've been study partners with Daphne and Blaise for two years. I just don't like Draco and his entourage." The study-partner thing seemed to shock Hermione and Ron, but then they just shrugged it off. It explained where Harry had disappeared to randomly when he had said he was studying defense or potions.

"Now," Neville said, stepping forward. "How many of you are muggleborn or raised?" he asked. About half of the thirty children raised their hands. One of the Ravenclaw purebloods sneered and opened his mouth, but Neville pointed at him with a fierce glare. "Don't even say it," he warned, and the child's mouth snapped shut. "All those raising their hands, go over to those two," he pointed out Ron and Ginny as he was instructing them.

"The rest of you are with us," Hermione said, smiling at the group. A large majority of them were scowling, but as everyone knew who Harry Potter was (even the muggleborns, through the stories they'd been told last night) no one complained.

They didn't enter the Great Hall, where the rest of the school was, as then they would be separated by House. Instead, Harry and Hermione conjured large pillows for all of them and the two groups sat on the floor on opposite sides of the Entrance Hall. The first years were in semi-circles around their tutors, and after the first couple minutes, all thirty of them ( seven Gryffindors, eight Ravenclaws, six Hufflepuffs and nine Slytherins) were completely intrigued.

Concerned by the lack of first years in the Hall, all four Heads of the Houses, as well as Dumbledore left in search of them. They stopped in shock at the sight when they reached the Entrance Hall, however. Ron Weasley was showing the muggleborn students the different coins used in the Wizarding World and he, his sister and Neville Longbottom were explaining things such as goblins and exchange rates.

Hermione and Harry were doing the same with the wizard raised first years, only they were talking about muggle money and banking. The five adults just stared, watching as the teens moved from money to clothing seamlessly.

"Why have we never thought to do this, Albus?" Minerva McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore shrugged, his eyes twinkling. "An oversight that shall be rectified next year," he answered. "For now, we shall let Harry and his friends carry out their plans."

"It's as though the Houses don't even exist," Ponoma Sprout muttered, watching one of her badgers giggle with a lion and snake over something Harry had said.

"Curious," Snape murmured silkily. "I would never have thought Potter had the brains to come up with something like this."

Although Harry couldn't possibly have heard them, he did glance their way. Upon seeing that the teachers weren't planning to stop them, he turned back to his lesson. All too soon, however, study hall was over and the first years were told to meet here tomorrow.

Neville and Harry told a group of ravens how to get to the Defense classroom without getting lost as Ron, Ginny and Hermione vanished the cushions. "Well," Hermione grinned. "That went well."

"Yes it did," Ron agreed, eyeing the teachers who were all conversing quietly among themselves. "Teaching is kinda fun. Although I think I'd enjoy teaching flying more."

"Harry's really good at teaching," Hermione said with a faint hint of exasperation. "I was about ready to hex Dorian because of his snide little comments."

"Patience is a virtue, Mione," Harry grinned, and the five of them ran off so as not to be late for their next class. That startled the teachers into moving as well.

It was during Transfiguration the next day that Harry had an idea. They'd been teaching the firsties about muggle entertainment and all the children had seemed interested in the cinema. He needed to talk to Remus, though, to see if his plan would even work.

Ron surprised them all in that class when he managed to transfigure his pincushion into a hedgehog just after Hermione had. He looked the most shocked out of all of them, and McGonagall just looked proud. Harry managed just after that, and with a little coaching from Hermione, Neville ended up with a rather happy looking hedgehog as well.

That night Harry pulled out his mirror and called his godfathers. "Hi! I have a favor to ask you."

"What kind of favor?" Remus asked, just a bit wary. Sirius shot him a grin, absolutely curious as to what their Bambi was up to.

"I want to start a movie night here. With muggle movies." Harry grinned sheepishly. "But that means I'll need some supplies."

Remus and Sirius exchanged fond looks. They knew that Harry could get electronics to run off magic, but it was sort of trial and error. The kid had gone through three computers before getting one to work. "What kind of supplies?" Sirius asked, knowing that Remus would be the one doing the shopping. Unless, of course, they did it online.

Harry's grin grew. "Oh, just some projectors, DVD players and as many DVDs that you can possibly find. That are rated PG-13 and below," he clarified upon seeing Sirius's lascivious grin.

"Would you like some popcorn machines as well, Bambi?" Remus asked, absolutely loving this idea. He may just have to show up at Hogwarts some time to join in. Harry nodded excitedly and Remus gave a gentle smile. "This is Marauder worthy, Bambi. Are we going to have to change your nickname soon?"

"Not yet, Moony," Harry grinned happily. "You have my bank card, right?" He'd had an extra one made up and given Remus access to his account. He would have done the same for Sirius, but the man was still a convict, even if he wasn't currently on the run.

"We have it," Remus nodded. "Do you want four of each machine, then?" he asked, knowing that they wouldn't need copies of the DVDs.

"Yes," Harry sighed. "With any luck, though, I won't blow anything up."

"Are you going to get permission?" Sirius asked. He thought it would be great if he didn't, but Harry needed a room for this, and for that he needed permission.

Harry nodded. "I'm hoping for extra credit from both Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall."

"Smart, Bambi," Remus said approvingly. "Very smart." Harry grinned at the compliment and Remus shook his head, somewhat sad. Harry was a very sweet kid, but he seemed shocked to get complimented on anything. It stemmed to abuse, but the boy refused to talk to them about it. "We'll get your stuff, kid. You should probably go to bed now, though. It's getting late."

"Thanks Moony, Padfoot. Night."

End Chapter

**Note: After finishing this chapter, I blew up my computer. Literally. With flames and smoke. I have now gotten a new computer but it does not yet have Microsoft Office. That will soon be rectified. No worries.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the wait, guys. It's been really, really busy out here in real-life land. No worries, though, I have no intention of abandoning this fic. I just can't promise to update it in a timely manner. Here's to hoping, though. Here's the next chapter. It's a little short because I forgot where I was going with this one, but hey. It's here. It's done. Enjoy.**

Chapter Ten

A week later, Harry was completely exhausted. Not only had he gotten hardly any sleep in the past couple nights due to a sudden resurgence of nightmares, but his theater project was taking a toll on his magic. Flitwick and McGonagall had been astounded by the idea, and had not only given him a room to use and one class period each per week to work, but had told him that if he could get the project done by the Christmas holidays, they'd give him a free pass on those exams. But Transfiguration completely confused him, even when he was able to pull off the spells.

There was something about transforming one object into a different object that bothered Harry. It hadn't much when they were changing something into something else of similar size and shape, but now…he couldn't figure out the science behind it. He knew it was magic, that it wasn't supposed to be explained by science, but it just didn't make sense. You couldn't create something out of nothing, so how did conjurations work? And how did you get something so small to become something so large, or vice versa?

Magic required you to fully believe in it to work. Harry believed he could do it, even if he didn't necessarily believe it was possible. Therefore, his spells worked, but they took a lot more out of him then they rightly should have. Hence, he was completely and utterly exhausted.

He'd wandered off to a random fifth floor corridor, falling asleep on a large windowsill, where the sunlight was warming the stone nicely. He'd dozed off while thinking about how his plan to educate the first years had gone completely to plan. The house boundaries had been broken, and the upper years couldn't even threaten the younger, considering the teachers were approving of the mixed friendships. More surprising had been the fact that blood purity suddenly didn't matter, as purebloods were curious about muggles and muggleborns were curious about purebloods.

It was halfway through lunch that Cedric Diggory found Harry asleep on the windowsill. He frowned to himself as he gazed at the younger boy. He'd always liked Harry, even when the rest of the school had turned against him during the Slytherin Heir escapade, but there was something about the kid that worried him. Harry reacted to certain situations differently than most children, and Cedric knew he wasn't the only one that had noticed. He'd often caught the Weasley twins, or Oliver Wood, or even some other members of Gryffindor house casting worried looks at the boy. His two friends, Hermione and Ron, definitely knew something, but they never acted any differently around Harry, which seemed to do the boy some good.

Shaking his head, Cedric went over and lightly shook Harry's shoulder. "Harry, wake up," he said softly. "You really do need to eat lunch." Not to mention that study hall was next, and Cedric knew the teachers would get worried if Harry didn't show up. Especially now that that first year thing that the kid had had going on was finished. Harry mumbled something and shifted on his stone bed, not waking up. Cedric sighed. "You're not going to wake up, are you…"

Cedric maneuvered the deeply asleep Harry onto his back, somewhat thankful that the kid was so small. It would certainly make things a lot easier. Harry, for his part, didn't even wake up, and Cedric couldn't help but wonder why the kid was so tired and if he shouldn't take him to the Hospital Wing instead of the Great Hall.

Halfway there he met up with the Weasley twins, although he didn't really want to know what they had been up to since they were both wearing manic grins. The grins faded somewhat when they saw the sleeping Harry, and Fred sighed. "Where'd you find him?" he asked.

"Fifth floor corridor, in a window," Cedric answered. "I couldn't get him to wake up."

"Yeah," George muttered. "It's difficult to wake him up when he actually falls asleep like that." He stepped forward and pulled Harry off Cedric's back. The smaller teen just curled up in George's arms, still sleeping steadily.

Cedric frowned. "He's done this before?"

Fred shrugged. "We found him all over the place last year," he replied. "The dementors were making it hard for him to sleep, so he'd fall asleep all over the castle. We sorta made it a game to see who could locate him first."

Cedric's frown deepened. "If it was the dementors last year…"

"He has nightmares," George answered the unasked question. "We're not sure what they're about, but they make everyone in his dorm worry. Ron told us earlier that he's hardly slept this week." He frowned darkly. "But he does need to eat something…"

Fred shook Harry awake outside the doors to the Great Hall, and George set the yawning boy on his feet. With a slightly distracted look at Cedric, who smiled and walked to his own house table, Harry made his way over to his friends. "Hi," he mumbled, looking about ready to fall asleep again.

Ginny shook her head, exchanging a look with Hermione. The older girl smiled slightly and started piling food on Harry's plate. "Eat," she told him sternly. "Finish this, and I'll give you a treacle tart." The bribery seemed to work, as Harry started on the food.

"How's your project going?" Neville asked, after swallowing a bite of his chicken.

Harry shrugged. "It goes," he answered. "I've got a lot done, but I'm still waiting on the electronics. That's probably going to take a while, as magic really isn't compatible with this type of machinery. It tends to burn the electrodes out."

"Hence the explosions?" Ron asked with a slight grin. Harry had told him how he'd gotten his computer to work when they had asked about the machine. He did a lot of his homework on that laptop, and then transferred it over to parchment once he got it the way he wanted it. It beat writing it out only to have to start over when he messed up in ink.

Harry nodded. "Hence the explosions."

"Iron dampens magic," Neville said, looking over at them. "Perhaps you could incorporate that into your work to keep from overloading the stuff."

Harry stared at him for a long moment and then grinned. "Nev," he said solemnly. "You are a genius."

"I try," Neville grinned back. Harry gave a nod, focusing on his food as he was now much more awake than he had been earlier. They finished their meal in silence, and Hermione gave Harry a treacle tart when he turned his puppy-dog eyes on her. It was very hard to resist his puppy-dog eyes, and Harry knew it.

They continued talking about everything and nothing until lunch ended and study hall began. Harry was busy studying for History when a sound caught his attention. Across the hall, there was a small second year Slytherin that was sniffling over her homework, obviously upset. Her other year mates looked annoyed with her, and the upper years were rather amused. Her frustration intensified and her tears threatened to fall.

Harry frowned to himself, glancing at the rest of the Slytherins (the first years looking sympathetic, but unable to help) and then sighed. If they wouldn't help the poor girl, then he would. He got up, much to the surprise of those around him and the teachers roaming the hall, and walked over. Ignoring the scowls the other Slytherins sent his way he placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

She started, staring up at him with wide, confused eyes. Surely, she had not been expecting Harry Potter of all people to ask her that. "I…I don't understand my homework," she explained sheepishly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Harry glanced over her shoulder at the work in question and gave a grimace. "Ah, Transfiguration…" He gave a grin. "I'm not so good at that myself, but I have a friend that's a genius and would probably be willing to help you out." He grabbed her book and held out a hand to help her up from the table.

Everyone watched in shock as Harry led the little snake over to the lions, and presented her to Hermione. "Hey, Mione. My young snake friend here," he paused, glancing at the girl, "Daniele," he added once she had provided her name, "doesn't understand her Transfiguration. Think you can help?"

Hermione grinned and scooted over. "What do you need help with?" she asked as the younger student took a seat. After a short pause in which the two girls were the only ones actually working, there was sudden movement from many of the younger years. A young Ravenclaw third year came over to Neville to ask for help with Herbology. Three third year Hufflepuffs asked the Weasley twins for help with Potions (as it was well-known that the two menaces were geniuses in disguise). Harry himself was asked by no less than four students for help in defense. Ginny was tutoring a couple second and first years in charms, and Ron was surprised when a few Slytherin and Hufflepuff first through third years came for his help in History.

The teachers were practically in shock, as they had never seen this type of behavior from the houses. And then, one by one, they all began to smile. Trust Potter to turn Hogwarts traditions on their heads.

The day continued as days normally do at Hogwarts, although there was that undertone of excitement. Tomorrow the other schools would arrive and the Goblet of Fire would be set out. Everyone was excited to see just who would be chosen as Champion to represent Hogwarts.

Harry made his way through classes tired but happy. He'd probably have to ask for help from someone on his Charms homework, though, as he had spaced off during class, not paying enough attention to the lecture Flitwick had been giving. But by the time dinner came around, a hungry Harry was relaxed and joking with his friends, seemingly without a care in the world.

Everyone jumped when there was a screech from the doors to the Great Hall near the end of dinner. A large, pitch black hippogriff was entering the hall, a crate strapped to its back. Harry jumped up when he recognized the beast, and realized that Remus and Sirius had sent his supplies.

He gave a short bow and then strode forward, not bothering to wait for the return bow from the hippogriff. There were many gasps at that, but the hippogriff merely nuzzled at Harry's neck, as the boy made quick work of unstrapping the crate. "You're a good boy, Hades," Harry said happily. "And how are you and your herd?"

There was a return of clicking and quiet bird-whistles that had Harry grinning and nodding. "Well, congrats on that. Maybe I'll be there when its born."

"Snakes not enough, Potter?" Malfoy's drawl penetrated the silence that had overtaken the Hall. "Now you have to talk to great, ugly beasts?"

Hades reared, giving a war-cry as he turned towards the Malfoy heir. Harry, though, jumped in front of the creature, grabbing its head and forcing it down. He then turned, scowling, towards Draco. "Must you prove again and again just how much of a moron you are, Malfoy?" he asked, his tone dripping with annoyance. He turned back to Hades, whispered something to the obviously peeved creature, and then let go. The hippogriff turned and quickly left the Hall, presumably to go back home.

Malfoy was staring with wide eyes at Harry, wondering just why Potter had deemed it necessary to save him. He had, of course, just proven to the rest of the hall that he was in fact an idiot at times. Harry rolled his eyes and sat back down, levitating the crate behind him. He pulled the letter off the top of the crate and opened it.

_Bambi,_

_Inside this crate are four DVD players, four projectors, three sets of speakers, and two popcorn machines. There are also fifty different movies, and more of those will be sent later. We deemed it best not to shrink your machines, since we didn't know if that would affect your work on them or not. _

_We would have sent Buckbeak to send your items, but figured it would be better not to send that hippogriff back. Hades volunteered, for lack of better word…_

_Everything is going fine here at Haven. The orchard has been harvested and much of the fruit has been put away for the winter. Miss Millie actually came out to the house to help us with the canning and such. She's a sweetie, that woman. She's actually wanting to set Padfoot up with her granddaughter… (Don't worry about anyone here recognizing him, he looks completely different from his Wanted posters…)_

_As for your animals…we do our best, but there have been a few things to note. First, Harley gave birth to three cubs, two males and a female. We've named them Batman, Robin and Selina, following the theme you set before. One of the hippogriffs is pregnant. And Ramoth has apparently mated with Mnementh, as there are three new dragon eggs. One of the phoenixes, Carpenter I think it was, had its burning day._

_As for any injuries, the merpeople got angry at Taipan again and attacked him. He's fine except for the tip of his tail missing. He now has a better respect for the merpeople and hasn't flooded the lake since. _

_I hope everything is going well for you at Hogwarts. And I hope you enjoy watching the tournament. Stay out of trouble, Bambi. _

_With love,_

_Remus and Padfoot._

Harry smiled and folded the note, placing it in his pocket. He loved getting letters, even if he did have the mirror and spoke with his honorary uncles weekly. His friends all gave him questioning looks, but he just smiled at them and they let it go.

Chapter End


	11. Chapter 11

**Ah, here is another chapter, without so long a wait. Feel loved, peeps, because life is just as busy as ever. As a note, answering a question I got a while back and forgot about, the technology in this fic has been brought forward many years. Instead of the technology of the nineties, I'm giving them the tech of today. Because, frankly, it's more awesome. Yup. Enjoy.**

Chapter Eleven

Harry had not been pleased with the day's Defense lesson. Mad-eye Moody—while an interesting teacher—had no right to use the Unforgiveables in class. He may have proven a point, but a lot of children had left that classroom unhappy and shaken.

'_My Harry, are you well?'_

Startled, Harry jumped slightly, and then shook his head. '_I'm fine, Hedwig. Just a little annoyed by class.'_

'_Yes,'_ Hedwig agreed. _'There is something wrong with the one-eyed one.'_

'_Wrong how?' _ Harry asked with a frown.

Hedwig paused, and Harry could feel her confusion. '_I do not know, my Harry. I am sorry.'_

'_Don't worry about it, love,'_ Harry replied fondly. He looked u when Hermione ran up and grabbed his hand, tugging on it impatiently.

"Harry come on!" she squealed, her face lit with excitement. "The other schools are coming!"

"Oh, right!" Harry exclaimed. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about that. He and Hermione ran to the Entrance Hall and joined the mass of students that had congregated there.

Harry staved off any boredom during waiting by listening to the conversations around him (it was not eavesdropping, thank you very much.) He learned about the latest cosmetic spells, how Daniella was now going out with Robert instead of Dan, and how one of the student's cats was pregnant. He snickered quietly when Malfoy loudly proclaimed that they way the Hogwarts students travelled to school was far more dignified than anything the other schools could come up with. One of the Slytherin first years promptly told the young heir that a train was, in fact, a muggle invention.

'_Somtething comes,'_ Hedwig murmured, and Harry looked out over the grounds.

A huge, flying carriage appeared, pulled by the largest horses Harry had even seen. And he had thought Roy to be impressive (which he was, for a non-magical horse). When it landed, the doors opened and out stepped a giant of a lady. Dumbledore kissed her hand and she led forward a group of her students.

"Veela," Ron whispered, staring at the Beaubaxtons girls with wide eyes. Hermione gave the redhead a disgusted, and somewhat heartbroken look. Harry merely shook his head; he still couldn't really see the appeal.

Hushed whispers broke out and people pointed towards the lake, where a massive ship could be seen. A dignified, if squirrelly, man stepped off, greeting Dumbledore and leading forward his own group of students.

"Oh. That's Victor Krum, that is," Neville said, blinking in surprise. Harry, too, was shocked; he hadn't realized that Krum was still in school.

There was something of a procession as the two visiting schools entered Hogwarts. Harry, though, turned to the four massive Abraxan horses, which were all staring at him with large, baleful eyes. "I'll visit you soon," he murmured, patting the closest one on the nose. He hadn't noticed that the creatures had slowly been moving towards him.

He really needed more sleep. His awareness of his surroundings was beginning to suffer, and that could be dangerous, considering his past. He shook his head again, following his friends back into the school.

The Great Hall had two extra tables, although the visiting students were encouraged to mingle with the Hogwarts students, which many did. Harry tiredly sat with his friends, suddenly feeling rather exhausted. Ron and Neville filled his dinner plate, seemingly used to doing so, and Harry began to mechanically eat.

"How are you doing, Nev?" Ginny asked in concern. "I heard about Defense."

Neville blinked at her in surprise, before smiling slightly. "I'm fine, thanks. Moody actually talked to me afterwards. Gave me a book on exotic plants as well."

"That's nice of him, "Hermione smiled. She glanced Harry's way, making sure the boy was still eating. They all tended to mother him when he got this sleepy. "Who do you think will get picked as Hogwarts Champion?" she asked.

"I heard Cedric Diggory was entering his name," Ginny replied, taking a bite of pudding.

"He'd be a good choice," Ron spoke up. "But I'd be happier if a Gryffindor got chosen." He shrugged. "House pride and all that."

"Angelina said she was going to enter," Neville added, causing the others to grin, if a little worriedly.

"Harry," Hermione scolded fondly. "Don't fall asleep here." Harry blinked up at her, and she gave a small smile. "Puppy pile?" she asked their surrounding friends, as Harry gave a large yawn.

"Puppy pile," Neville, Ron and Ginny nodded in unison.

Puppy piling had started last year, although Neville had only joined in once. It was where they would make a nest of blankets and pillows in front of the common room fireplace and all curl up together for the night. They didn't puppy pile often, so when they did the prefect tended to ignore it. Nothing untoward happened, and Harry and Ginny seemed to sleep better for it. Sometimes homesick or scared first year would join them as well.

They had never figured out if McGonagall knew about this act, but she hadn't said anything against it. So, while all the other students were gathering around the Goblet of Fire to watch the entering of names, the five lions were curled up in front of the fire, sleeping soundly.

When the other Gryffindors entered, much later, their loud conversations were hushed, and they quietly tip-toed around the pile of teenagers. A few grabbed blankets and pillows and joined the nest, but most just smiled and went on to bed.

At about two in the morning, Minerva McGonagall made her nightly check of the Gryffindor common room. She smiled at the children piled in front of the fire, noticing that tonight Angelina and Alicia, as well as two first years had joined what she had started to called the Pride. "About time," she whispered. She had noticed how tired Potter had been looking recently, every teacher had, and McGonagall knew he always looked well rested after a puppy pile.

So, checking to make sure the fire was still strong, she readjusted a blanket over one of the first years, and left the group to their sleep.

She never noticed the sleepy emerald eyes watching her as she walked out.

A much rested Harry was laughing at a story Ron had been telling about Charlie when they entered the Hall for the Halloween feast. With any luck, this Halloween would go much better than any of the others. Sirius and Remus had already wished him a happy holiday but both had been a little subdued by the anniversary of their friends' deaths.

To be honest, Harry was as well. His parents were dead, after all, and Malfoy and his goons had been taunting him about it all day. But his parents had been dead for thirteen years, and he had learned to deal, as nothing would be bringing them back. So he tried his hardest to make the best of the day.

The Hal was buzzing with excitement, and the Hall grew silent as the Goblet of Fire was unveiled. It flared, and a piece of paper shot out of it, to be caught by Dumbledore.

"Victor Krum, Champion of Durmstrang!"

Cheers broke out as the large seventeen year old stood and walked to the antechamber off the side of the Hall. Again, the fire rose, spitting out another paper.

"Fleur Delacour, Champion of Beaubaxtons!"

More cheers, as the pretty blond with obvious vela heritage curtsied and left the room. The tension mounted as the fire flared again.

"Cedric Diggory, Champion of Hogwarts!"

Harry joined in on the enthusiastic cheers as Cedric to join the other two Champions. The Hufflepuff was a good choice of champion for the school, and although Harry was worried, he was excited to watch the upcoming tournament as well. But the cheers died as the fire flared once more, and piece of parchment shot out of the goblet.

Dumbledore caught it, read what was on it and looked towards the Gryffindor table, his face grave. And Harry knew what the parchment said even before Dumbledore voiced it.

"Harry Potter."

The thunk of Harry's head hitting the tabletop was the only sound resounding throughout the otherwise silent Hall.

End Chapter


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone. Sorry about the long wait, life caught up with me. That, and I got off Harry Potter for a while. I work through what I kinda call obsession cycles, in which I focus completely on one book/show/movie/comic/etc. for a while and I can only write that one thing for while I'm on it. So I got off Harry Potter and fell into Magnificent Seven and then Buffy before cycling back. Don't worry, I'm back on Harry Potter now. If I don't update don't think I'm abandoning something, but know that I'm just working my way back to it.**

**Now, onto chapter 12:**

When Dumbledore called his name again, Harry let his head rise and he growled. "No." There was complete silence as he turned and rose, facing the staff table. "Absolutely not. I didn't put my name in that goblet. I don't even approve of this farce of a tournament! I refuse!"

Dumbledore frowned. "Mr. Potter, if you could join the other champions, we can discuss this more fully."

Harry scowled. Ron patted his back. "Go on, Harry. See if you can't sort this out."

"You guys believe me, right? I didn't put my name in that cup."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "When could you have? You were with us all night."

"Besides," Neville spoke up. "You were completely against it from the start."

"Harry," Hermione warned. "Dumbledore doesn't look happy. You might want to do what he says."

So Harry gave in and stood, ignoring the whispers and the stares that followed him. He then made his way to the back room, where there was generally a lot of arguing while he was practically ignored unless being shouted at. Harry finally retreated to an almost hiding position behind Cedric in an attempt to escape the accusations. The Hufflepuff allowed the younger boy to hide, scowling at the teachers who were fighting it out in the middle of the room. The other two champions looked a little put-out as well, as they apparently believed Harry when he said he didn't put his name in the cup. But the adults were acting so foolishly.

"Sounds like you have to compete, Harry," Cedric said solemnly.

"One calm year," Harry muttered, his face twisted in a strange mixture of annoyance, fear and anger. "That's all I'm asking for. One year where no one is trying to kill me."

Cedric sighed, not exactly sure how to answer to that statement. He eyed the still arguing teachers and then shrugged. "Let's get out of here," he said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and leading him out. They nodded farewell to the other champions, who returned the gestures, but the adults didn't even seem to notice. "You going to be okay? Most people aren't going to believe that you didn't enter your name."

"Story of my life," Harry grumbled. And then he sighed, feeling Hedwig chiding him in the back of his mind. "Sorry. Yeah, I'll be fine. My friends believe me, and that helps."

"I'll try to talk to the Hufflepuffs," Cedric replied. "No promises, but I'll do my best."

Harry blinked at him. "Thanks," he said, somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected the older boy to be so willing to stick up for him. "That's….more than most would do."

Cedric gave him an odd look, not sure about that phrase. "We're both Hogwarts Champions. We represent the same school."

"That we are," Harry smiled. "Goodnight." They split up, heading for their separate houses. Harry walked a little slower than usual, absently waving to portraits as he silently ranted to Hedwig. She put up with it for a little while before finally telling him the equivalent of "suck it up". No, life wasn't fair, but he was in the tournament, and therefore had to at least make sure he survived it. He sighed, knowing better than to argue with a dragon-owl-thing.

And suddenly he was surrounded by cheering Gryffindors. They were all congratulating him and asking how he had managed to enter. Bewildered, he looked around for his friends.

They looked angry. Furious really, and he couldn't help but wince.

It was Fred, though, that broke up the celebration. "Do you not get it?" the unusually upset twin snapped, his voice loud enough to cut through the raucous. The room grew silent and they all focused on the steaming twins. "Harry didn't ask for this! Someone entered his name, and now he could die because of it!"

Everyone quieted and turned to stare at Harry who stared back at them silently. He then sighed, running a hand down his face. "Listen. I didn't want anything to do with this blasted tournament. Support Cedric, he's the real Hogwarts' Champion." He then ran up the stairs, jumping onto his bed and pulling the curtains shut. Ron and Neville would keep the others from bothering him, knowing that if he closed his curtains he really wanted to be alone.

He pulled out his mirror and called for Remus, who answered with a grin that quickly disappeared upon seeing Harry's face. "What happened?" the werewolf asked.

"The Halloween curse," Harry sighed. "Somehow I got myself stuck in that blasted tournament…"

"Someone entered your name?" Remus asked, disappearing from the mirror for a moment as he called for Sirius.

"Yeah," Harry grumbled. "Which makes me think that dream I had before school is somehow involved. Dumbledore can't get me out of it. I have to compete."

Sirius frowned, slipping into the mirror. "That sucks. Do you know what's going to happen?"

"Not yet," Harry said. He shrugged. "But I refuse to let myself stress over it. So…what's going on at home?"

Remus and Sirius blinked and then shrugged, allowing their nephew to change the subject. If that was how Harry wanted to handle the problem for now, then they weren't going to stop him. "Not much. Your creatures are doing fine as far as we can tell," Sirius answered. "We're not Tamers though, so we can't actually do as much as you can…"

"Which reminds me," Harry grinned. "How did you get Hades to send that package?"

"Well," Remus drawled. "We didn't want to send Buckbeak, for obvious reasons, so we asked him if there were any others that would be willing to go…since we can't actually get close to most of the herd. Hades showed up on the front porch the next day, so there you go…"

Harry thought about that and then nodded. "Okay."

"Speaking of that package," Sirius grinned. "How goes your movie night plan?"

Harry grinned happily, throwing his arms up into the air. "Disney marathon on Saturday!" he crowed. "And I only blew up two DVD players and one projector, so I have extras now! Neville told me that iron dampens magic, so I was able to use iron strips on the circuit boards and it helped keep things from blowing up. The magic doesn't completely override the system anymore, and powers it like electricity. It's great!"

Remus smiled. "So, why Disney? Are you sure animation is the best way to introduce muggle movies? Won't that confuse the pure-bloods?"

Harry grinned. "That's partly why I chose it. And because I took a random poll among the first years, and they all want Disney. The muggle born firsties are all feeling a little homesick and I thought this would help."

"Your popcorn machines working then?" Sirius asked. He'd gotten rather addicted to popcorn during his and Harry's movie marathons at Haven.

Harry nodded, flopping down to lie on his stomach on the bed. "Yup. Could you possibly send a bunch of muggle candies? Before Saturday?"

Remus grinned and glanced at Sirius. "Tell you what, why don't Padfoot and I come up for this Disney marathon? We'll bring all the snacks."

Harry's eyes widened. "Really!? That'd be awesome!"

"Can we watch Alice in Wonderland?" Sirius asked. "It's my favorite Disney movie."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Of course it is…" He shook his head. "You would like that blasted movie." He grinned. "I'm more partial to Beauty and the Beast, myself."

"I like The Lion King," Harry smiled. He ignored the obvious looks he got at that. "So, all my creatures are fine then?"

Remus shrugged. "As far as we can tell." He paused, glancing at Sirius. "The Unipegs are a little sluggish lately, though. I noticed when I was Mooney last week."

Harry gave him stern look. "You weren't chasing them, were you?" he asked.

Remus blinked. "Um…no?"

Sirius burst out laughing. "Yeah, that was convincing."

Remus blinked and then changed the subject. "Speaking of animals…Harry, what do you think of some more horses?"

Harry tilted his head to one side. "Why?"

"Miss Mille was telling me about visiting her daughter up in a town near here, and she was telling me about these two horses that are in bad shape at a farm. She was wondering if we could possibly buy them."

Harry was silent for a moment, thinking this through. "Sure. What kind are they?" He knew that Miss Millie was usually very detailed when it came to convincing people to do something. She had convinced him to sell roses at her shop from his garden, and convinced Remus to start writing fantasy books, after all.

"Um…a white Arabian mare, of about six years. And a dappled grey Paint gelding of about eight years," Remus answered. "They'll need some work to get them into riding shape, but apparently they're both saddle-broke."

Sirius broke in then. "Can we get a cow?"

Harry blinked. "A cow? What?"

Sirius shrugged. "I was just thinking. We have fruits and veggies already set aside for the winter. We have wheat and oats. We have eggs. Now we just need milk to be self-sufficient."

"We can't be self-sufficient without bacon," Remus answered.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I wasn't talking meat," he whined. "We can't even bring ourselves to kill a chicken…so no pigs or beef cattle. Just a milk cow."

Harry laughed. "Fine. Get a cow. And those horses. We have room in the barn and stable. Just make sure nothing eats them…some of the creatures wander out of the forest, you know."

"Nothing's eaten Roy yet," Sirius pointed out. He then gave his godson a stern look. "About this tournament, Harry."

"No." Harry shook his head. "I'm not worrying about it right now."

"Bambi," Remus sighed. "Just promise you'll be careful."

Harry gave him a look which made them feel like idiots. "Duh. I'll see you Saturday then?" he asked.

Sirius and Remus sighed again. "Yes. You'll see us Saturday. With all the candy you can carry." They said goodnight and left then, leaving Harry to his thoughts. He shook his head. Somehow he'd just been talked into getting a cow and two horses for their home. Interesting.

The next morning Harry was in a bit of a better mood. Draco, though, had been working fast, and a large majority of Hogwarts were wearing badges that he had created, which flashed "Support Cedric Diggory" and "Potter Stinks" in flashing colors. Draco even came up to taunt Harry to his face, but Harry was more interested in the badge.

"Can I see one of those?" he asked, eyeing the flashing colors. The badge stayed the same color for the "Support Cedric Diggory" part, but when it changed to "Potter Stinks" the words changed colors. Harry didn't have any idea how Draco had managed to do that.

Draco gave him an odd look. "What?" he asked, sneering slightly.

"Can I see one of those badges?" Harry asked, blinking at the blond Slytherin. "I want to know what charms you used to make the colors flash. I've never seen something like that before. It's pretty cool."

Dumbfounded, Draco handed one of the badges over, and watched silently as Harry wandered over to the Gryffindor table, staring at the badge in his hand. He and his friends then continued to lean over the flashing thing throughout breakfast, ignoring those that were whispering, sneering or outright calling him a cheater.

They were much more interested in the magic.

End Chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

**Oh dear. I really am sorry about the extra long wait. I got pregnant, see. And started up school for a new semester. The two really didn't mix. I, apparently, don't handle pregnancy well, so while my baby boy is completely healthy, Mama is not. (Eighteen more weeks…eighteen more weeks…and yes, I'm counting down…)It got to the point where just doing anything that required looking at words and reading or writing made me violently ill. It's a wonder I passed any of my classes. The next chapter shouldn't take so long to get posted, though, as it's already mostly written. I just have to type it up. Don't worry, this story is nowhere near abandoned. It just might not be updated regularly.**

**So, enjoy!**

Chapter 13

The first time he met her, she was sitting in a corner, humming to herself as she read a book. Her feet were bare of socks and shoes and Harry had frowned. It was October at the time, and the castle was cold.

He'd introduced himself and taken her to Ginny, who had loaned her extra shoes. He had then spent over an hour talking to his strange new friend.

The second time he ran into her, her robes were a tattered torn mess and she looked like she'd been thrown in mud. There were tear-tracks on her face, but she was smiling and drawing happily in her leather-bound notebook. Harry had cast some charms to repair her robes and clean her up, getting rather frustrated by the bullying happening inside Ravenclaw house. But he didn't intercede, at her insistence, and instead they spoke about magical creatures. Her notebook was filled with fabulous drawings and copious notes on the subject. Her own personal grimore, and Harry was fascinated.

The third time, Harry had just passed a group of laughing girls, all from Ravenclaw. She was in the middle of the hall, scrambling to pick up her books and supplies before they got trampled, her bag having split open. Harry scowled, but repaired the bag, helped her gather her materials and walked her to class

The fourth time was the last straw for Harry. Hermione and Neville were with him when he found Luna Lovegood crying in a corner. It was the Friday before the Disney marathon, and everyone was excited. Except Luna, who was crying. Her notebook was open in her lap, but instead of the beautiful drawings, there were scribbles and spilled ink and nasty words written over everything. It had been completely destroyed.

Harry was enraged. Hermione and Neville were equally appalled by the bullying. Harry grabbed the notebook and Luna's hand and headed for the Great Hall. It was time for dinner, so everyone should be there.

Hogwarts, it seemed, was also upset. Any of Luna's tormentors in her house were unable to eat nay of the food. It would disappear from their plates and hands. The teachers and students were baffled until Harry stormed in, his three friends following a more sedate path behind him.

The boy, who was quite literally glowing with power, stalked up to the head table and dropped the notebook in front of Flitwick. "I've ignored the blatant bullying of my friend from her housemates. She didn't want to cause problems. But it's gone way too far."

Flitwick blinked at him. "Bullying?" His face clouded with anger. "I was told that the problem had ceased." He glared down at his house's prefects, who cowered. It was suddenly easy to remember that the usual genial Flitwick was a master duelist.

Harry scoffed "Ceased? More like escalated. They destroyed her personal grimore."

There was a sudden thunderclap as Dumbledore shot to his feet. For the first time any of the students could remember, the headmaster was furious. "They did what?!" His voice echoed angrily throughout the hall. "Destroying a personal grimore is an Azkaban-level offense!" And it was. Doing so was an attack on magic itself, and could earn you up to six weeks in the prison.

Dumbledore's eyes were cold as he gazed at the Ravenclaw table. It was clear, simply by the lack of food on their plates, who was to blame for the poor girl's suffering. The rest of the teachers were also on their feet, just as angry, even Snape.

"Ravenclaw house is to return to its common room immediately," Dumbledore ordered in a cold voice. "Miss Lovegood, you are to remain with the Gryffindors for the night." He swept out of the hall after the trembling Ravenclaws. Flitwick angrily took the notebook, muttering something about seeing if it could be repaired, and if not it was still evidence.

The rest of the hall was silent until Harry sat down at his table. Hermione, Luna and Ginny were all discussing something softly. He suspected it had something to do with the upcoming ball. He started a soft conversation with Neville and Ron about Quidditch, and slowly the volume of the hall grew to almost normal decibels.

"Can't have just a normal day, can you Harry?" Remus smiled as he sat down at Gryffindor table. Harry blinked up at him before grinning. Remus gained many happy greetings, although his massive black dog got some uneasy looks.

Padfoot, though, just gave a doggy grin, and flopped onto Harry's feet.

Remus dropped a file onto the table, sneaking a piece of roast beef under the table for Padfoot. "Robert went and picked up those horses, Harry. They're staying in town until they're well enough to be moved. We also gained the cow from the same farm. All three are in bad shape."

Harry opened the folder, knowing that Robert, as Ravenshold's veterinarian would be good to the animals. The pictures, though, made him frown. Both horses were far too skinny, had sores from poor care, and their feet were in deplorable condition. The cow wasn't much better. "You'll need to get Carey, the Ferrier, to look at their hooves. I'm pretty sure the Paint has an abbesses in the left foreleg. They all need to put on some weight too."

"Carey's going to look at them on Monday," Remus stated with a nod. "We thought the same about the Paint; he was lame in that leg, but didn't have any injuries, past or present, in the leg itself. And Robert's got all three on a special diet. He says if all goes well, the three can come home in a week or two."

"Awesome," Harry said, pushing his empty plate aside. "What are their names?"

Remus grinned. "Siri named the cow Boo." He shrugged at Harry's odd look. "Don't ask me." Granted, the milk cow was black with white marks, as opposed to white with black marks. Perhaps that was the reason. "We thought you should name the horses."

Harry frowned for a moment; he usually me the animals first before naming them. Oh well. "The mare is Lady Willow, and the gelding is Pony."

"Lady Willow and Pony," Remus nodded, gathering up the photos and stashing them away. Dinner conversation returned normally after that.

* * *

><p><em>LINEBREAK<em>

Harry sighed to himself. He knew that Remus and Sirius wanted to talk to him; he couldn't keep putting it off. No matter how much he pretended to be into the movies.

Six Disney movies, though, and Harry realized the looks wouldn't stop. He made a subtle motion to his uncles, motioning to the door. They caught the hint and made their way out of the room to Cinderella singing "A Dream is a Wish."

"I'm impressed, Bambi," Remus said again. "Your theater room is remarkable." And it was. Harry had set the room up almost identically to that of a muggle theater, with a large screen and rows of comfy theater chairs. The back wall had the snack counter (the muggle candies had been a hit…and why didn't the Wizarding World have popcorn? That was ridiculous!) and a warded cabinet to hold the DVD's. (He'd gotten Professor Babbling, the Runes teacher, to help with the warding—his own knowledge was nowhere near advanced enough.) The money they made on selling the candies and popcorn (as the movies were free to watch for those that wanted to) was put towards buying more candy and popcorn, as well as buying more movies. Harry was hoping that the theater room would be able to support itself by the end of the year. It had certainly been a hit with the Hogwarts population, as all day students and staff had been coming and going to see the animated films. They'd already finished Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King, Toy Story, Snow White, The Little Mermaid and Alice in Wonderland.

The Professors had already agreed that one movie would be showing every night for those that got their homework done and wanted to watch. Harry had already worked out a viewing schedule. Mondays would be for fantasy and science fiction movies, Tuesdays for musicals and non-fiction types of films. Wednesdays would be for chick-flicks, or romantic comedies (mostly for the girls…), Thursdays for horror movies, and Fridays for humor. Weekends would offer more than one movie, of all different types. Remus had helped him sort his collection of films into the different types, and already they had gone online and ordered over a hundred more. Hogwarts would not be suffering in the movie department at least. (They had assigned Dobby to the snack counter, telling him how much to charge for the snacks and how to go about buying more with the funds provided to him. Seventy percent of all the snack money went towards snacks, the rest going towards the movies. As the galleon to pound ratio was skewed in favor of the pound, they really were making quite enough money to conceivably pull this off.)

Upon reaching the guest rooms on the third floor that Sirius and Remus had been granted for the weekend, the two men (Padfoot having changed back to human) turned to Harry. "Bambi, Harry," Sirius said quite seriously. "Please tell me you've done something to prepare for this tournament."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Paddy." He then proceeded to look about the guest room, having never really seen any before. It was a lot like the Gryffindor common room, but smaller, with two doors leading to single bedrooms and a bathroom in between them. The room was decorated in blues and greens, with a large painting of the Hogwarts crest above the fireplace. Harry dropped into a large, comfy chair that was in front of the fireplace, squirming to get comfortable, his legs ending up over the armrest.

Remus sighed, eyeing his nephew. Lilly had always loved sitting like that; James had usually forgone the chairs and couches completely to sprawl out on the floor. "I've looked into the rules. It's true that it's a binding contract, so you can't get out of it. You would have had a change had the person who entered your name not used one of your old assignments."

"I figured," Harry sighed. He shrugged. "I'm not trying to win this, though. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I just want to survive." He turned back to Sirius. "So, yes, Padfoot, I've been going over spells, learning new ones. And I know, generally what the first task is."

Remus raised an eyebrow, sitting down on the couch as Sirius sprawled on the floor. "And?"

Harry grinned. "We have to get past some kind of large, magical creature in order to retrieve something."

Sirius blinked. "Magical creature?" Harry nodded. "Oh. No worries there, then."

"Pretty much," Harry said, before frowning. "Although, if it's a basilisk, I'm screwed. And I really hope its not an Acromantula or Blast-Ended Skrewt."

"You've faced a basilisk before," Remus pointed out. "Although I see your point about the Skrewts. What's wrong with Acromantula?"

Harry sighed. "They're not natural. Wizards created them years ago—hundreds of years—by breeding engorged spiders. For defense or something. I don't have any influence over unnatural creatures."

"Huh," Sirius huffed. "That sucks."

"Nicely worded, Padfoot," Remus sighed.

"Thank you."

Harry got the conversation back on track before it could evolve into a hex war. Despite Remus having been known as the 'responsible' Maruader, he was just as likely to throw the first prank hex as Sirius was. And while it was fun to watch, Harry figured they had more important things to talk about at the moment. The first task was in a week and a half, after all. "Anyway, I've looked up way s of dealing with 'unnatural' creatures. And if worse comes to worst, than I'll go with the old standby of sticking a sword through its brain." He shrugged at their gobsmacked looks. "Worked last time."

"Last time never should have happened," Remus growled, eyes flashing amber for a second. Harry patted his arm and Moony calmed almost immediately. His cub was safe, for the moment at the very least.

"But it did," Harry said. "And we need to move on." He frowned, thinking something over. "Can basilisk hide be used for armor like dragon hide?"

"Yes," Sirius replied. "Although it's very rare. Most basilisks are only large enough to make a pair of boots, if that. They're considered too dangerous to allow to get any larger, and the creation of them are greatly monitored. So, no armor has been made in decades."

"Hmm…" Harry nodded to himself. "And the rest of the parts?"

"Very valuable for potions," Remus said. "Especially the older the snake."

Harry blinked up at them. "What do you say to a trip to the Chamber of Secrets?"

End Chapter


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you all for the kind words and for being completely patient with me. Here is the next chapter of Tamer, and for a treat, the next one will be up extremely soon, as it's already written and just needs to be typed. (School starts again in about two weeks so no promises after that…school and a baby is hard. But it's my last semester so…) Anywho, enjoy peeps!**

Chapter Next

It was an odd group that was gathered in the second floor girl's loo. All four heads of houses were present, as was Dumbledore, Remus and a large black dog.. Harry, Hermione and Ron were there, and so was an incredibly nervous Ginny .Harry had encouraged her to come as an attempt to get closure. The others were there to help render the remains of the basilisk, as it was his by right of conquest, and to explore the chamber. The boy was convinced it held more secrets than just a giant snake.

"Mr. Potter," Severus drawled. "I do hope we've been called here for more than watching you stare at a sink."

Harry turned and blinked at the scowling man. "I apologize. I was lost in thought." He turned back to the sink and hissed a command. Everyone present took a step back as the sink depressed and a massive pipe appeared. Another hiss and a staircase formed, leading down into the dark.

"Huh. That would have been useful before, mate," Ron pointed out.

Harry grinned. "I just couldn't imagine Salazar Slytherin sliding down a pipe." He waved an arm to his followers. "After you." Dumbledore led the way, the house heads following after. The kids came next and Remus and Padfoot brought up the rear.

Dumbledore and McGonagall had lit their wands, providing light in the damp tunnel. Harry took the lead, as Hermione and Ron stayed back to coax Ginny along.

The pile of rocks from the cave-in covered the giant snakeskin, so the adults—all of them, really, but Harry and Ginny—had no idea what they would be facing in the chamber. The adults, though, did manage to create a larger opening, stabilizing it so another cave-in wouldn't happen.

Harry sighed as they reached the doors with the snake carvings, steeling himself. If he was honest, he didn't really want to be here again. He felt for Ginny, really he did, but they both needed closure. He spoke the words to open the door and walked inside the chamber.

Professor Sprout gave a shriek at the size of the monstrous snake, which looked as though it hadn't been dead for more than an hour. McGonagall's hand was against her chest, and all the males were pale.

Hermione looked both startled and fascinated. "How has it not decayed by now?" she asked no one in particular.

"Stasis wards," Harry answered, recognizing the feel of the magic that permeated the chamber. "I didn't know what they were before, but I recognize them now. They were active in places at…home." He broke off before he could say "Haven"; knowing that names had power, even just the names of places.

"Good Merlin, Harry," Remus breathed. "I know you said the basilisk was large, but I was expecting ten feet, maybe fifteen. Not…"

"Over sixty!" Flitwick squeaked. "It has to be over sixty feet. And you beat it at merely twelve!"

Harry shrugged, not really paying attention. There was a puddle of blood, mixed with ink, at the wall near the head of the beast. His arm burned faintly at the memory, and he rubbed at it. Remus and Padfoot caught the motion, and exchanged concerned glances, but didn't call Harry on it.

Ginny had inched her way around the snake to take Harry's hand. She ignored the blood, the ink, and the adults in general, and tugged at Harry. "Come on," she whispered, her voice trembling a little. "Let's explore."

Ron, Hermione and Padfoot joined them, the latter nodding to Remus to let him know that he had it covered, as they made their way around the chamber. The other adults didn't even seem to notice—Remus aside—as they wandered about. The werewolf glanced their way ever so often, but seemed content to let Padfoot watch over the children as he helped render down the colossal snake.

Harry started hissing at the walls, asking them to open up any hidden doors. For a while, they had no such luck. And then, suddenly, an ornate door appeared, silently opening. Hermione mentioned something about horror movies and butlers, and Harry snickered. Ron and Ginny exchanged fond looks, and then glanced into the dark room.

Firstly, Harry cast a revealing charm, not wanting to get caught by any surprises. Getting an all-clear, the four kids and dog trooped into the room, Ginny and Hermione lighting their wands.

"Holy…" Ron muttered, looking around.

Books. Lots of books and scrolls covered with centuries of dust. Hermione took a step forward, studying the runes on one of the scrolls, her jaw dropping . "These are from the lost library at Alexandria," she whispered in amazement. The others all blinked at her, knowing the importance of that, but too shocked to say anything. They returned their attention to the rest of the room, and suddenly noticed the four large portraits on the walls, their inhabitants sleeping.

It was obvious to those in the room who those inhabitants happened to be. The sight of them caused Hermione to sink onto one of the dust covered couches, and Padfoot to drop to the ground in complete shock. Harry merely tilted his head to one side, while the two Weasleys gaped.

There was a man, tall and slender, with silky brown hair falling to his shoulders. His features were sharp, his fingers long. His robes were green, and there was a snake about his shoulders.

He was Salazar Slytherin.

A woman with curly black hair, drawn back in a braid, wisps escaping to curl about her pale face. Her features were regal, high cheekbones and plump lips, her nose upturned just a little at the end. Her robes were a deep, navy blue and a raven rested on the back of her chair.

Rowena Ravenclaw.

Another man, this one shorter and stockier than the first, but having a somewhat rugged handsomeness about him. He had short, bright red hair that was as unruly as Harry's, and his hands were scarred. There was a familiar sword at his hip, and he wore dark red robes, trimmed with gold.

Godric Gryffindor.

The last woman wasn't as regal as Rowena, but she had a definite beauty about her. She was of medium height and build, her blond hair pulled up in a messy bun. Her yellow robes hugged her slim body, and a badger peaked out from under her chair.

Helga Hufflepuff.

All four founders, sleeping peacefully in portraits that hadn't been disturbed in centuries. Obviously, Riddle hadn't found this place. He must have thought the basilisk was all the Chamber had held. Harry exchanged a look with Padfoot, who gave a doggy shrug. (And still, the other adults—minus Remus—hadn't noticed their absence, too involved in the carcass of the serpent.)

The light had slowly disturbed the portraits, and four pairs of eyes were blinking open. Green, blue, brown and gray in the respective orders of their paintings.

"Ho! Who comes to disturb our sleep?" Gryffindor grumbled, his voice low and rough.

"Only one who could enter my secret chamber, brother," Slytherin answered in a silky tenor. He eyed the four children and the animagus. "Well, look here. They are naught but school children."

"As we were once, Salazar," Helga murmured, her own voice smooth as honey.

"Come now, dears," the soft tones of Rowena murmured. "Tell us how you came to be here."

So, Harry told the story, not taking terribly long and skipping many details. Slytherin was aghast by the end of the tale.

"A basilisk?! In my chamber!?"

Ginny blinked. "So, it wasn't yours?" she asked timidly.

"Heavens no, child," Slytherin replied. "I wouldn't keep a beast such as that! Especially in a school filled with children!" He scowled. "That insane son of mine must have hatched the beast."

That brought some surprise. Apparently, all they had learned of the founders had been twisted over time. And so they started to learn the truth.

It was hors before the professors found them, McGonagall and Sprout a little frantic. And then they too were gobsmacked at the sight of the portraits and a short retelling of all they had been told.

It was decided that the portraits and books and scrolls would be moved and all the students would take a history lesson with the founders. It was about time that certain beliefs and rumors were laid to rest.

"You really like turned the wizarding world on its head, don't you Harry?" Remus murmured fondly as they left the Chamber and headed towards the ground floor. Harry shrugged, grinning widely.

"I have to get to Hagrid's," he said, moving towards the Entrance Hall. "I promised I'd help look after a new shipment of creatures."

"What are they?" Remus asked, showing his curiosity. He enjoyed listening to Harry talk about creatures; it was almost as awesome as watching him deal with them.

Harry shrugged again. "No one really knows, apparently," he replied. "It's some sort of mix breed. They're hoping Hagrid can figure it out."

"Huh," Remus grunted, smiling as he watched Padfoot chase a couple of first years out of the hall, the kids shrieking with laughter. "Well, good luck with that. Question, though. What are your plans for Christmas?"

Harry scowled. "I wanted to go home, but apparently I have to open the Yule ball. And I have to have a date."

Remus frowned at how upset Harry sounded. "Ask a friend," he suggested. "And then you can come home after the Ball."

"I can do that?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Bambi," Remus smiled.

There was a snort nearby. "Bambi?!" Malfoy's incredulous voice rang out. "You're really called Bambi?! Oh, this is just great!"

Harry blinked at the blond. "Did you do something different to your hair?" he asked innocently. "It looks different."

There was, of course, nothing different about Malfoy's hair, but the boy was vain enough to just about panic at the mere thought. He ran off, looking for the nearest mirror.

"Sorry Harry," Remus murmured guiltily. He knew what Harry would do with his newfound information.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said. "I can handle Malfoy. Are you coming next week?"

"Of course. Are you ready?" Remus asked.

"Hedwig says there's four dragons in the forest," Harry said. "So, I'm good. I'll see you at the task, Moony." He gave the werewolf a hug and ran off towards Hagrid's hut. Remus shook his head fondly and whistled for Padfoot.

Harry eyed the creatures with great interest. They looked like a cross between an ostrich, peacock and lizard—like Hedwig looked like a cross between an owl and a dragon. They were tall, two legged creatures with long necks and sharp beaks. They had wings covered in hard feather-like scales, and long, peacock-like tails. They looked awkward and graceful all at the same time.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione frowned, having joined him and Hagrid. "The Ministry has deemed them dangerous."

Harry frowned as well, patting one of the scaly heads. "Dangerous? But they're herbivores."

"Fudge got kicked," Hagrid grumbled. "Serves 'im right."

Harry gave a sigh. "I'll take care of it." It would take much to get the creatures to Haven. He'd have to get Luna down here to sketch them for him, though—he was terrible at drawing. His own creature grimore was filled with sketches by Luna. He would usually describe the creature to her and she would draw it (or parts of it) and he would write about it. It was an amazingly detailed book, and Luna actually had a copy of her own now.

Harry threw an apple in the direction of one of the brightly colored males, thinking through his plans to rescue the bird-lizards. Honestly, he thought they were probably an offshoot of the cockatrice.

"How?" Hermione asked.

"How what?" he asked back.

Hermione huffed. "How are you going to handle it?"

Harry grinned. "Same way we took care of Buckbeak." Hagrid looked a little startled, but Hermione grinned back and the subject dropped. The seven bird-creatures (four females and three males) would be saved.

End Chapter


	15. Chapter 15

**Howdy again peeps! So, here's the next chapter, which is the first task. Fun all around. For those that are wondering/concerned, I will reiterate: this is not a romance. Yes, Harry does end up with some guy at the end of this story. No, it's not exactly romantic, and no, they don't exactly get along with the arrangement at first. I'm not even sure this could be called slash, except that Harry ends up with a dude. For those that are also wondering about the frequency of chapter updates…I happen to be working on a lot of things at the moment, a mother to a baby, and starting school back up in a week. (The 'other things' is actually a fanfiction arc that I've been working on for a while. A massive crossover—yes, Harry Potter is part—that is actually multiple fanfictions and quite fun to write. Only, they all have to be done before I can start posting…) Anywho, I love all you, my lovely readers, and I will now let you enjoy the chapter. Ciao!**

Chapter Fifteen

Harry sat calmly in the Champion's tent, watching as his fellow competitors paced nervously. They all knew about the dragons from either their headmaster/mistress, or from Harry himself, who wanted to keep the game fair. The other three, however, were nowhere near as calm as Harry. They kept shooting him odd looks, but he ignored them, busy jotting down information on the strange lizard-birds that had mysteriously disappeared yesterday. The Ministry was up in arms on that, but they had no proof that anyone at Hogwarts was involved. The birds had wings, after all—perhaps they had just flown away.

Harry had drawn the Hungarian Horntail—the last dragon. He'd have to wait until all the other Champions had gone. He'd already laughed in Rita Skeeter's face when she had commented about true love after catching him and Hermione hugging. He knew to expect another scathing, untruthful article in the Daily Prophet from her, but really, he and Hermione? Really? She was practically his sister.

He heard the cheers as Krum and Fleur fought their dragons, trying to get to the golden egg. HE heard the enraged cries of Krum's dragon as it accidentally crushed some eggs, and due to Krum's spell, and he winced. The loss of a baby was generally devastating to a dragon, especially one separated from its mate. He made a note to visit her and try to help console the large reptile.

Then it was Cedric's turn, and Harry wished him luck before he was left alone in the tent. He absently thought on what Professor Moody had told him earlier—use your strengths. Moody had strongly hinted trying to out-fly the dragon. Frankly, even if he hadn't been a Tamer, Harry would have found that suggestion ridiculous.

His named was called, and harry stepped out of the tent and into the arena. "And our fourth champion! Harry Potter!" Ludo Bagman's voice echoed through the stands. "Dressed in…is that dragon hide?"

Harry rolled his eyes. Of course it wasn't. You didn't wear dragon hide when working with dragons. That would just enrage them. No, he was wearing a basilisk hide suit, its dark green (almost black) scaly hide sufficient protection from, well, just about anything. There was a bright, emerald green lightning bolt running down the length of one arm, outlined in gold, and the potter crest in red over his heart. Aside from that, it was a rather simple suit of armor.

Harry tuned Bagman out, focusing on the massive dragon in front of him. She was gorgeous, and staring directly at him. The stands were silent, nearly everyone holding their breaths.

He took a step forward, the Horntail following his movements. "Hello," he murmured, although he was sure that everyone could hear him. "You're absolutely gorgeous." The Horntail tilted her head to one side and then stretched forward.

The crowd gasped, a few screamed. Harry laughed. He scratched the Horntail's eye-plates, where Ramoth loved being scratched. The Horntail purred, a loud rumbling sound. "Alright girl, I need the fake egg out of your nest."

The dragon grumbled something, staring at the golden egg. Harry laughed again. "Yes, I know. It's completely ridiculous. Wizards tend to be that way." He stepped around the Horntail, grabbing the egg off the top of the nest.

The crowd cheered and Harry rolled his eyes. "Is there anything I can do for you, Shariq?" he asked, calling the dragon by name. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the trainers—Charlie included—startle. No one had told anybody the names of the dragons.

The dragon nudged one of her eggs, this one smaller and paler than all the others. Harry listened to the hisses, roars and grumbles, and then nodded, picking up the small egg. He conjured a pouch and placed the egg inside, attaching it to his belt.

Patting the Horntail on the nose, Harry said goodbye and left the area, ignoring the cheers of the crowd. The trainers, all except Charlie, were in a complete uproar over the fact that he had taken an egg from the nest. Charlie was just confused that Shariq had let him.

Harry bypassed the medic's tent completely, instead heading towards Krum's dragon. Again, the handlers started an uproar, yelling at the boy to stay away from the enraged dragon. Nobody would survive that encounter, and even they were staying a far distance away. Charlie shut them up, telling them to just watch, and then he followed Harry at a safe distance. He blinked at the sight of the Gryffindor consoling the dragon over the loss of the two eggs.

"Harry?" he called.

Harry looked up. "Oh hey, Charlie." He motioned to the dragon. "She'll be okay. It was pretty stupid to bring nesting mothers. They're endangered animals! Why would you risk the eggs like that?"

Charlie held up his hands in a pacifying manner. "I agree. In fact, I brought that up. But Fudge wouldn't listen. Said it had to be his way or I'd be out of a job."

Harry patted the dragon's head and then left the enclosure, rolling his eyes. "Of course. Fudge, at the best of times, is a complete idiot." No one bothered to point out that the entire stadium could still ehar them. Fudge bristled and blustered, especially when the majority of the crowd burst out laughing at Harry's words.

"Seriously," Harry continued, realizing that everyone was listening from the laughter. "Any man who would throw a man in prison for twelve years without a trail is not a man I want in charge."

"Twelve years? Without a trial?" Charlie asked, eyes wide. A hush fell over the stands, although Fudge ws trying to get the sonorous charm ended, to no avail.

"Yup," Harry said, casually tossing the golden egg in the air. "Turns out, Sirius Black was framed, and Peter Pettigrew is still alive. But Fudge tried to have him kissed—again—despite being told this."

Charlie eyed the boy and then sighed, shrugging. "Well, it's a rather well-known fact that Fudge can be bribed," he said.

The spell broke, Fudge bright red and quickly turning purple. He was demanding tht Harry be arrested, or expelled, but no one was listening. Instead, the majority of the crowd was glaring at the minister, wondering if what they had heard was true.

The other dragon handlers had joined Harry and Charlie, and the largest—a man named Sam—demanded that Harry return the Horntail's egg. Harry merely rolled his eyes. "You don't know much about dragons do you."

Sam sputtered. "W-what?! You're nothing but a little boy! I am a dragon handler!"

"Who doesn't recognize a familiar egg when he sees it," Harry said, shutting Sam up fast.

"A what?" a female handler asked, looking intrigued.

"A familiar egg," Harry answered, holding up the warmed pouch with the smaller egg. "They're smaller than normal dragon eggs, and could die without one-on-one care. Of course, there hasn't been a dragon familiar—as they tend to be True Familiars—in decades."

Sam was still sputtering angrily, and Charlie led Harry away, back to the main tent, the other handlers following. "So, this egg is your familiar?" the female handler—Susie—asked.

Harry laughed. "Mine? Merlin, no! I have my True Familiar. I'll know who this one belongs to after it hatches."

Charlie frowned. "Like you knew how Turtle belonged with Ginny?"

Harry grinned up at him. "Exactly!" He ran off to join his friends, who were waiting for him, not bothering to listen to the scores. (He was currently in second place behind Krum, as Karkaroff had given him a score of 2 for not using a spell against the dragon.)

The crowd watched as Harry joined Neville, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Ginny, wondering just what the Boy-Who-Lived was really about.

End Chapter


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the long wait people. Real life is busy, you know? I am a full time mommy now, and ironically I now have less time than I did when I was a mommy and a college student. Funny how that works. Anyway, again, this story is not abandoned and it will be updated whenever possible. Again, it's not a romance, and while Harry gets paired with someone at the end, it's not really by choice. Again, I have put technology at today's level instead of that of the nineties. Again…I don't own Harry Potter. Okay, I think I have said enough. Enjoy.**

Chapter Sixteen

Sirius dropped the canister of milk in the chest cooler outside the side door of the house. The cream would rise while it cooled, and they would be able to put it into the electric butter churn. He mentally gauged the time, glancing out one of the large windows to see the position of the sun, and figured he had enough time to throw a load of laundry in the washer before Miss Mille came.

There had been a time where the idea of living a mostly muggle life would have made him laugh. He, along with James, had been one of the strongest wizards to come out of his Hogwarts' class. Together they had taken down Death Eaters left and right, without having the training of the Aurors to back them. They hadn't needed it.

And then Peter had betrayed them all, and James had been killed, sending Sirius to Azkaban. As it was, he was lucky he was even alive, let alone sane. To be frank, though, a lot of that had to do with living this muggle life with Remus. It had helped stabilize his mind, more so than anything in the wizarding world would have been able to. He had a feeling that Dumbledore would have sent him to his parents' manor to keep him safe…and that would have probably made him go completely mental.

Sirius shook his head, being careful not to throw anything red into the washer with the whites, and then turning to the main room. He took a moment to straighten up some of the books that had been left out by Remus, placing them back on the shelves that had been added to the basement when it became apparent that the library just couldn't hold all of them. The werewolf was sleeping off the full moon, but would probably awaken within the next three to four hours.

Glancing at the _Daily Prophet_ –kept in the basement away from muggle eyes-that was resting on the coffee table, Sirius grinned. According to the articles, the DMLE was now looking into not only his case, but the bribery of Fudge and other Ministry officials. Harry's words at the first task had, apparently opened quite a few eyes to the injustices of their world.

The investigations into his innocence probably wouldn't go anywhere for a while—not with Fudge and Malfoy so adamantly against him—but it was a start. Heading for the stairs, Sirius abjectly ignored Rita Skeeter's scathing article about Harry's "dark abilities" and his illicit affair with underage witches—Luna, Hermione and Ginny. Anyone who knew Harry would scoff at those ideas anyway. Skeeter was plainly fishing for readers.

He had just made it back up the stairs when he heard her knocking on the door. He opened it with a smile, greeting the diminutive lady fondly. The grocer had grown on both him and Remus in their time living at Haven. Miss Millie grinned up at him from the doorway, her gray hair still in its loose bun, threatening to fall around her face.

"Good morning, young man!" she chirped, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Now, Orion, where are those peaches we're to bottle today?" she asked, bustling into the house.

"In the kitchen, Miss Millie," Sirius grinned. "And may I thank you again for your help?"

"No thanks necessary, son," Millie answered, making her way to the kitchen. She stopped in the living room to pat Samara's head, not even put off by the extra large cat. "No, how's young Harry doing?"

"Just fine, ma'am," Sirius answered.

"The tournament isn't giving him too much grief?"

Sirius froze from where he was washing peaches and Millie laughed. "Cool your jets, Sirius Black. I haven't turned you in yet, and I don't plan to." She shook her head. "You've done a very good job of keeping under cover."

"How did you know?" Sirius asked, calmly placing his cleaned peaches on the counter. Millie took them and began slicing them up, setting the pits aside.

"My granddaughters attended Salam's Academy for Witches. And I keep up with the news. I don't believe I'm the only one who knows in Ravenshold either, but you can never be sure. We are, after all, only muggles and as such don't talk about wizarding affairs. But everyone in town has come to the conclusion that you're a good man, mass murderer or not."

"I'm not," Sirius replied. "A mass murderer, that is. I was framed."

Millie raised an eyebrow, gazing at him for a long moment. "Well, no one is going to find you here, that's for certain." She went back to the peaches. "You're doing good for that boy, though. He was a little waif of a thing when he first showed up here." She gave an impish smile. "Just got off that train, looking like he had no idea what he was doing. I was shocked to hear he had gone into the woods. Everyone had completely forgotten about this place."

"I just want him to have the life he deserves," Sirius murmured. He shook his head. "Besides, he's done more for me than I have for him." Nursing him back to health was only the first thing that Harry had done since rescuing him back in June, after all. With both Harry and Remus's help, Sirius was finally getting his wild magic under control. Years in prison had made it grow, as Sirius realized that he had unconsciously used it to fight off the effects of the Dementors and cold. That, in turn, had only made his already vast amount of magic stronger.

"So," Millie continued. "Why didn't Remus take the boy in?"

"Remus has a medical condition," Sirius answered. "It's ridiculous but the government won't let him adopt because of that."

Millie shook her head. "It's obvious that man would never harm his cub."

Sirius abruptly sat down on the floor, holding his head in his hands. "Miss Millie, if you would please stop flaunting your knowledge of our secrets. I don't think my heart can take it."

Millie grinned. "Did you know that in America, they also have were-coyotes?" When Sirius merely glanced at here with a raised eyebrow, she continued. "After David left me, and my wayward daughter disappeared to the colonies, I didn't have much to live for. And then I was told that my granddaughters—twins, mind you—needed a guardian. That my daughter had gotten herself killed. Drug overdose or some such. No one knew who the father was, although it was apparent that he was Native American. But those baby girls gave me back my purpose. And then they went off to Salem for school, and I met John and Jacob was a complete surprise. Who's ever heard of a fifty year old woman giving birth? But anyway, I digress. Apparently, for coyotes, the curse is inherited. I know what to look for."

"Inherited?" Sirius asked. "So both…?"

Millie nodded. "Yes, both Kateri and Dyani are weres." She pulled some previously prepared bottles towards her. "Now, back to these peaches. Do you just want them bottled, or would you like to make some peach jam?"

Sirius gave a short sigh, smiling slightly at Mille. "Could we do some of both? That blackberry jam was fabulous."

"Definitely," Millie replied. "Did you and Remus do as I said and plant some of the cuttings from that wild blackberry bush? It wouldn't do to have to wander in the forest every time you want some."

"We did," Sirius said, motioning out the window. You could just barely see the blueberry bush beyond the vegetable garden. They had planted the blackberry cuttings nearby.

Millie looked out the window as well, her gaze moving to the pasture. "Those horses are looking well."

Sirius nodded again, focused on cutting up the peaches while Millie prepared the other ingredients for the jam. "Yes. Robert says that they're healthy enough to be ridden now, but they're skittish of us older men. I believe we're going to wait for Harry to come home before we try to get too close." The white mare out in the pasture shook her head, her mane billowing out behind her. Healthy, the Arabian was a gorgeous beast, as was the Paint. They, with Roy, made up a beautiful trio.

"Yes," Millie murmured. "I suppose you would recognize the signs of abuse. Harry too, I would suspect." Sirius remained silent, frowning, but it was apparent the woman was speaking more to herself than to him. He hadn't realized that she had noticed, but given everything she had revealed today, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Glancing out the window again, Millie frowned slightly. "I am surprised that it hasn't snowed yet."

"The forecast says we should have snowfall by next week," a new voice, husky with sleep, interrupted. The two in the kitchen turned to smile at Remus as he blearily entered, stumbling for the coffee pot. Millie prepared him a mug before he could manage to somehow hurt himself on something.

"Snow," Sirius grumbled. "Great." He scowled at his peaches. "I don't like the cold." He really hadn't, ever since he'd been in Azkaban. Millie patted his hand absently, and started up a conversation with Remus about something academically related. Sirius smiled and pretended to tune them out.

Meanwhile, in Hogwarts, the students were getting more and more excited for Christmas and the upcoming Yule Ball. Harry had already asked Luna if she would like to go with him, so that she could actually enjoy the Ball, not being old enough to go on her own. She had agreed, and then gone back to restoring her grimore, talking to Hermione the entire time. (Hermione had learned from Harry that many of the creatures that Luna talked about were, in fact, real, but known by different names throughout different countries.)

There was some faint excitement for the upcoming second task in February as well, although not too much since it was so far away. Harry had already figured out the clue in the egg, having recognized the mermaid speak upon opening the golden device.

The second egg that Harry had received from the dragon was always kept in the leather pouch at his side. Already, Malfoy had attempted to crush the egg, but Harry had quickly stopped that by instead crushing his hand. It had been accidental, and somewhat instinctual (thank you Hedwig), but Malfoy had learned to leave the pouch alone.

"So," Ron started as they sat down for dinner one November evening. "What are everyone's plans for Christmas?" He started piling food onto his plate, absently checking to make sure Ginny and Harry ate enough.

"I'm going home to see my parents," Hermione smiled.

"Same," Ginny and Ron chorused.

Neville smiled. "My Grandmother is taking me to France for the holiday."

Luna grinned. "My father is taking me to Germany. We're searching for Crumple Horned Snorkaks."

Harry smiled back. "I'm headed home. I think Remus and Sirius said something about getting Lady Willow and Pony into riding condition."

The others blinked, and then caught on. "Those are your new horses, right?" Hermione asked. At Harry's nod, she continued. "So, you know how to ride?"

Harry shrugged. "It's more instinct than anything," he replied. "I know how to do a lot of things that I never actually studied on. So long as they have to do with animals."

Neville nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's how I am with plants." He studied his other friends. "Perhaps it's something about the innate nature of magic or something. Maybe we all have callings."

Harry gave a soft smile, swallowing his piece of chicken. "Would that be so bad?" he asked.

Hermione scowled. "I don't like the idea of fate deciding my future."

"I haven't allowed fate to decide mine," Harry countered. "But when it gave me an opportunity that I liked, I took it and ran with it." He shrugged. "Maybe we do have callings and our magic makes it easier for us because of it. If so, than Mione, you're supposed to be a teacher or researcher. You like those jobs anyway, so why worry?"

Hermione sighed and then shrugged. "Valid point," she muttered. She turned back to her meal as Neville and Ron started to discuss the history class. She didn't like the idea of divination, fate, prophesy and destiny. But it made sense in a way, that their gifts were meant to aid them in their lives.

End Chapter


	17. Chapter 17

**Okay, to answer some questions and concerns. Harry is fourteen, abused and not looking for romance. Chances are, he's never going to be comfortable with romance. That said, he does end up bonded to someone (male) at the end of this fic. He is not forced into it, but they both make the decision for the betterment of well…yeah…let's not get to spoilers. Is he going to fall in love with this person eventually? I don't know. I haven't planned that far ahead. But from what I know of abused people that may never happen. That is why this is deemed kinda-sorta slash. He's bonded to a male, but there is no romance there and may never be. **

**Now, since that's said…let's get on with the story. The Yule Ball is coming up and I have plans for that and Christmas.**

**Chapter Seventeen**

It took staring at the map for a while to locate the people he was trying to find. And then Harry headed off to the third floor corridor; the one where Fluffy had been kept in his first year. There, in a window near a deserted tower (smaller than most of the other towers at Hogwarts) he found Fred and George.

George was sitting between Fred's legs, the older twin (by two minutes) leaning back against the wall. They were reading a book, open in George's lap, Fred pointing out things every once and a while. Harry watched them for a moment, smiling slightly at the sight of the twins completely relaxed. It didn't happen often—they, like Ron, seemed to have something to prove and tended to do so in creating a mask of jokers. Truthfully, the two were geniuses who enjoyed a good prank, but were much more likely to be experimenting with spell crafting and potions for the sake of science…well, magical science or whatever.

Harry took a step forward, and the two looked up at him. Instantly the joker masks were back in place and Harry gave a small sigh. "I wish you wouldn't do that," he muttered.

"Do what Harrykins?" George asked, grinning widely.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Hide like that." He shook his head, ignoring the somewhat shocked looks that the twins exchanged. "That's not why I'm here though. I need some help."

Fred nodded, nudging George to get him to shut the book and sit up. Harry absently noticed that the book was on advanced transfiguration. "With what?"

"Well, the task—the second one," Harry rambled. "It's going to be in the lake. They're gonna take something I cherish and put it down at the bottom and I have to get it back in an hour. But that doesn't make sense. Nothing I own would make me risk my life for it. Not even my Firebolt. But then, that makes me think it's going to be a person, but that wouldn't make sense either. They'd have to get permission, right? And it can't be completely safe. Besides, who would they choose? I have many good friends…"

"Harry," George interrupted gently, noticing that the boy was just rambling and not getting to the point. "What do you need help with?"

Harry flushed, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "I can't swim."

Fred nodded thoughtfully, neither of the twins making a joke of the boy's inability. "Figures," the older twin mumbled. "Don't think your relatives—and I use that term lightly—would have taught you."

Harry nodded slowly, eyeing them. "Could you teach me?" he asked, his voice a little weak with both embarrassment and trepidation.

Fred and George exchanged looks and then shrugged. "Sure," they chorused. "Where do you want to practice?"

Harry blinked, not having expected them to agree so quickly. "Um…" he shook his head again. "This place is huge; you'd think it would have a pool of some sort."

Fred tilted his head to one side. "We've never found a pool. And there's not one on the map."

George's head tilted to the other side. "Although…" he bit his lip for a moment, causing the other two to glance at him.

"George?" Fred asked.

"We could always ask the Founders," the younger twin said. Harry smacked his forehead with one hand while Fred grinned. George echoed the smile. "If anyone would know, it would be them."

Fred and George got up, picking up their books and bags and placing their arms around Harry's shoulders as they headed for the new History classroom. No one had been able to get Binns to move on, so they had simply moved the classroom. The class, when not taught by the Founders (because, let's face it, the portraits only had knowledge of so much and had missed about a thousand years' worth of history) was a self-study class, usually led by a student. (Ron had taken over for the fourth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs that shared that class.)

"So, who are you going to the ball with?" Harry asked, and then ducked his head shyly. "I mean, you don't have to tell me or anything, but I was curious and…sorry."

George chuckled, squeezing Harry gently with the arm he had around him. Fred rolled his eyes, smiling softly. "Relax, Harry. We aren't going to bite your head off because of a question."

"We're going with Angelina and Alicia," Fred answered.

Harry gave a small smile. "Which one of you is going with which one of them?" he asked.

They both shrugged. "Doesn't matter," George muttered.

"The only one," Fred added.

"That can tell us apart," George continued.

"Is you." They ended the sentence together. George sighed. "Our own mother doesn't know the difference."

Harry frowned at that, stopping in his tracks. "That's not right. Surely there's someone aside from me that can tell the difference between you two. I mean, it's kind of obvious."

Fred smiled. "Maybe to you," he said. "But, to be honest, no one seems to have bothered to try. We're kind of assumed to be a package deal."

Harry scowled. "But George likes to read muggle fantasy books, and you, Fred, love to read science fiction. And George hates cockroach clusters—which I really can't blame him for—but you can't seem to get enough of them. And you, Fred, can draw like Michelangelo, but George can hardly draw a stick figure, although he's amazing at writing. He should definitely write a novel…"

Fred and George exchanged looks, smiling brightly. "And that, Harry, is why you're our favorite little brother." They were nearing the history classroom by this point, but Harry was still mulling over the problem that the twins had just presented him with. He thought about his search for them and then realized something rather crucial.

"The map can't tell you apart," he muttered. And it hadn't been able to; the map had always read Fred/George Weasley, over both their sets of footprints.

Fred and George froze. Harry turned to look at them, noticing that they had paled enough that their freckles were standing out harshly against their pale skin. "Guys?" he asked, tilting his head to one side. "What's wrong?"

He was suddenly pulled into an empty classroom. Flinching at the harsh treatment, Harry heard George whispering an apology before privacy spells were put up. "You can't tell anyone this, Harry," Fred said, and Harry frowned because it was the most serious he had ever seen either of the twins.

"What?" he asked back.

George sat down on a desk, and Fred leaned against him, rubbing his face. "From what we've learned…"

"We're not really supposed to be twins," George finished, slouching somewhat.

Harry's brow scrunched in confusion, looking between the two of them. They looked tired, sad, and somewhat scared of what Harry's reaction would be. "What do you mean by that?" he asked softly.

Fred sighed. "We noticed that our magical signatures are the same. We had to get custom wands…they're exactly the same."

"Don't ask how we got the money for that," George added with a tight-lipped smile. Harry smiled back, but waved for them to continue.

"We're too alike…although you have noted our differences." Fred shook his head, folding his arms. "So we did some research."

"You know our parents fought in the last war," George continued. Harry nodded and he continued. "The way we figure was that when Mum was pregnant with us…she was hit with a spell of some sort during a skirmish with Death Eaters."

"Mum and Dad have mentioned it before," Fred interjected. "They said we were lucky not to be harmed."

"Only," George continued. "When Mum was hit with that spell there was only one of us. It was early enough in the pregnancy that it wouldn't have really been noticed yet…"

"Our soul was split in half by that spell," Fred said solemnly. "Hence why there's two of us."

Harry held up a hand, processing for a moment. "So the two of you were meant to be one?" he asked faintly.

George nodded. "That's why our magic is stronger when we cast together. Why we have the same wands. Why we can practically read each others' minds. Why no one can tell us apart. Because we're the same person in two different bodies."

Harry was still frowning. And then he sighed. "Okay, so it kind of makes sense," he relented. "But you're not the same person; you're simply the same soul. Soul bound, so to speak." He snickered. "You're soul mates."

Fred scowled, although it was in good humor. "You can't be soul mates with your own soul, Harry."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "But isn't a soul mate just the other half of your soul?" he asked impishly.

The twins rolled their eyes and dropped the privacy spells, escorting the younger boy into the hall and down to the history classroom.

As it turned out, the school did not have a pool. Apparently, the Black Lake used to be safe enough for everyone to swim in, and pools weren't exactly practical back in the days of the Founders. (Frankly, neither was plumbing…so it was considered a blessing that the castle included that…) However, Helga did inform them of a room that would create whatever they needed up on the seventh floor. The Room of Requirement, or the Come and Go Room.

When the three of them went to check it out, they were amazed by the possibilities of the room. Fred mentioned something about a convenient broom closet when needing to hide from Filch. The room, though, had created a pool that would be perfect for learning in, and the three of them set up times.

Harry asked them not to tell anyone about the lessons. He was a bit embarrassed about needing to learn how to swim. But the twins agreed, not wanting to scare Harry away; something about swimming was making him anxious. He had continuously eyed the water like it was out to get him.

Once the boy had left, the two Weasleys vowed to owl Remus about this.

Line Break

_Fred and George,_

_Thanks for asking about this. Harry is, in fact, scared of water. We're not entirely sure why, but we're pretty sure it has something to do with his time at the Dursleys. _

_As far as we know, he has never taken an actual bath while living with us. He doesn't go into the lake here at his home, either, although he will walk along the shore. Showers and rain are fine, but bodies of water are not. _

_Padfoot was the same way during our years at Hogwarts. We, Prongs and I, later found out that it was because his mother would hold him under the water when bathing him as a babe. If Harry has had that happen to him on multiple occasions than it would explain his trepidation. It took years for Sirius to recover from that fear, and even now he avoids swimming if he can. _

_Work with him slowly. He needs to be able to swim for the task, and to not panic while doing so. Don't push him, though, as that will only make it worse._

_Sincerely,_

_Remus Lupin aka Mooney._

Line Break

They kept to themselves what Remus had said. And they worked with Harry on learning to swim.

It was slow going. Some days Harry practically refused to get in the water, instead distracting them with questions about their pranks and stories about the antics his father, godfather and uncle had gotten up to in the past. But the twins were relentless and didn't let him distract them all the time.

By the time Christmas break came along, Harry could swim. He, along with his friends and the twins, had decided that the bubblehead charm would probably work the best, although a stock of gilleyweed would also be kept just in case the charm failed.

It was two months before the task was even to be held and Harry was ready. The only thing he wasn't sure about was what—or who—would be used as his bait.

End Chapter


	18. Chapter 18

**Someone brought this up in a review (don't remember who, sorry), and I thought I'd mention it. Harry is not incapable of love. He loves, and he loves quite strongly. He's just not looking for romantic love. So, it's quite possible that he and his bonded will eventually grow to love each other. Just, perhaps, not romantically (intimately).**

**So, moving on. **

Chapter Eighteen

Bill was good at his job. He was very good at his job. And in order to be good at his job, he had to be good at knowing curses. He grinned to himself; at least this made his work easier.

Glancing over at his younger brother, the two exchanged tight-lipped smiles, sneaking through the bushes in the backyard of Number Four Privet Drive. Bill had let Charlie in on the conversation he had overheard between Harry and Ginny, and to say that the younger male had been furious would have been an understatement. Charlie had, actually, resembled one of the dragons he so loved.

The information about Harry's treatment here had been kept between the two of them, though. They hadn't wanted to involve any of their younger siblings, and didn't think their mother would believe them anyway.(She hadn't believed Ron or the twins when they had rescued Harry from his relatives before second year, after all.) And getting their father involved would have led to problems at the ministry. And so, they were doing this mission all on their own.

They were going to make the Dursleys' lives a living hell.

It didn't take much to mask what they were doing. Bill was amazing with wards, just as he was with curses. And Charlie had the massive amounts of magical power needed to cast the curses that Bill didn't have the strength for (wards took a lot of magic, after all.)

Once all the curses and wards were placed, the two brothers silently left, apparating to their room in the Leaky Cauldron. "You okay?"Bill asked, eyeing Charlie as he wavered slightly.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "I'm fine." He sat down on the edge of the bed, unlacing his boots.

"I'm just asking," Bill retorted, running a hand through his hair after he pulled out the tie. "You just got out of the hospital yesterday."

Charlie waved his concern aside. "It was just a little bite."

Bill gaped, giving his brother a _look. _"That 'little bite' nearly took off your arm!"

Charlie gave a short hum, fingering the fresh scars that circled his arm. He'd gotten too close to an angry dragon, wasn't fast enough to get out of the way of sharp teeth. Luckily for him, the dragon hadn't thought to use fire, or else he'd probably have come home in a casket…or an urn.

Bill shook his head. "Have you ever considered getting out of the dragon business?" he asked. Charlie sent him a sharp look and he waved a hand. "I know you love your dragons. But you also love other creatures. I'm just saying…maybe something else would be safer."

Charlie refrained from sticking out his tongue. "Maybe something else would be safer than curse breaking," he said, his voice somewhat petulant.

Bill rolled his eyes. "Your point has been made, little brother," he replied. "I'll leave your job alone." He kicked off his boots, flopping onto the bed opposite his brother. "So, I got a letter from Harry."

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Really? About what?" Neither of them had expected the boy to write them; they had only met the child earlier that summer, after all.

"The twins," Bill responded. He waved a hand to ward off Charlie's question about what the twins had done to Harry. "They didn't prank him. They taught him to swim, apparently. But that's not what Harry was writing about." He paused, frowning slightly. "Charlie…can you tell the twins apart?"

Charlie blinked, thinking about it. "Not really," he said honestly. "Why?"

"Harry was upset that no one can tell them apart. He said that they seemed rather dejected when they mentioned that he's the only one that can. He said it was obvious, but no one else is willing to try." Bill paused for a moment, letting that sink in to Charlie's head. "Harry advised to get them separate gifts this year. Try to make them feel more individual from each other."

Charlie shrugged. "Okay. We can do that. So…what do they like? Other than joke supplies?"

Bill shook his head. "See, that's the problem. I don't know." He gave a frustrated groan. "I know that Percy loves to read anything that's non-fiction. He loves stationary and quills and journals. Ginny loves to fly, and would love to collect swords and daggers if Mum would allow it. Ron excels at chess, loves history and Quidditch. But Fred? George?" He shook his head again. "Aside from joking…I don't know what they like. Especially not alone."

Charlie opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it again. He screwed up his face in concentration, trying to figure out what he had seen his brothers doing in their spare time. The twins were hardly ever apart from each other, but that didn't make them the same person. Apparently, they had all just gotten so used to the two of them together, that they had failed to differentiate between the two.

Charlie and Bill exchanged heartbroken looks when they realized that they didn't even know who their brothers were.

*********Line Break********

Petunia Dursley was convinced that she was going insane. Everywhere she turned, she could see her. Out of the corner of her eye, the apparition stood, failing to disappear when she turned her head.

Lily was watching her.

Petunia's sister was ghostly, transparent, and so terribly sad. Tears streamed down her face, as she wordlessly cried. Petunia could make out the words, reading her sister's lips: "Why?"

She didn't mention it to Vernon, but it was making her twitchy.

He noticed anyway.

It didn't help that every meal they ate turned rancid in their mouths. The food would look perfect, smell absolutely divine, but every bite would be like eating rot. It didn't matter if they cooked the food themselves or ordered it to be delivered. Anything they ate would turn sour upon eating.

The roses died. The grass turned yellow. Even the trees in the backyard turned dark with rot and decay. The snow became muddy, refusing to stay the pristine white of the neighbors' lawns.

Roaches invaded the kitchen and no amount of calling the exterminators could rid the house of them. Things broke, got dirty, couldn't be cleaned.

Petunia realized, somewhat belatedly, that they were cursed. And then things got worse.

Lily invaded her dreams.

Upon laying down at night, Petunia would instantly be visited by her dead sister. But she wasn't the crying beauty that would follow her around during the day. No, Lily was the soulless decaying form of her dead sister, flesh rotting, eyes white and pupiless. She would come after Petunia, declaring vengeance for the suffering of her baby boy.

Petunia woke screaming almost every night.

Vernon's nights weren't any better. He could swear that someone was beating him throughout the night. He awoke sore, bruised, and sometimes bloodied. It was when he woke to find the word "freak" carved into the skin of his upper thigh—the same place where he'd carved the word into a four-year-old Harry years ago—that he realized that they were cursed.

The two of them lamented their predicament. They wailed, and complained, and screamed. They blamed everyone but themselves. A part of Petunia was glad that Dudley was away at school—he wouldn't suffer the same fate that they were suffering. (Little did they know that Dudley didn't need to be cursed to suffer; he'd been beaten up early in the school year…it seemed that some people took offense to bullying.)

Petunia and Vernon, though, didn't feel guilt, only anger and resentment. They didn't believe that they deserved this punishment. And they sure weren't going to stand for it. When Harry came back—because he always came back—they would make him pay for what they were going through.

They didn't realize that he wasn't coming back.

*********Line Break*********

Harry grinned, gathering up an armful of snow and throwing it into the air. It fluttered down around him and his friends, covering the in wet whiteness. They all threw him amused looks, not complaining about the cold; they knew how much Harry loved the snow.

"So," Hermione asked, rubbing her hands together. Ron handed her his gloves; she'd forgotten hers in the Tower. She gave him a thankful smile, pulling them on as he shoved his now cold hands into his pockets. "Where are we going?"

"To visit Hedwig," Harry answered, emerald eyes casing the grounds of the school.

Neville raised an eyebrow, glancing over at his friend. "And where, exactly, is Hedwig to be found?"

Harry glanced at him, giving a pleased smile. Last year, Neville would have refrained from asking. He'd grown a lot more confident over the past few months. He'd also lost a fair amount of eight due to all the training he'd been doing with Harry and the others. "She's in the forest," he answered, his tone easy.

Hermione, Neville, Ron and Ginny hesitated for a moment before continuing forward. Luna merely kept pace with Harry. "You said she was your True Familiar, right?" the blonde asked, and Harry nodded. "I wish I had a True Familiar."

Harry glanced at her. "Well, I have the recipe for the potion that would turn your familiar into a True Familiar," he said. He looked back to his other four friends, who really weren't all that far behind him. "Do you guys want True Familiars too?" he asked.

Hermione thought about it for a moment. "What exactly would happen to Crookshanks if I were to give him that potion?" she asked in reply.

At that moment, they had crossed into the forest, and they were met by Hedwig. The five that hadn't seen her in her new form all gasped, some in shock and others in delight. Hedwig shook her large head, clicking her beak as she preened Harry's errant hair. He patted her beak, scratching her eyeplates and moving down her sinuous neck to rub at the scales on her shoulders. "Well," he answered. "Hedwig became this. Your True Familiar is supposed to echo your own soul."

Hermione grinned. "I'd love to have Crookshanks become my True Familiar."

Ginny nodded. "Turtle would probably stop sulking so much. I hope."

"Pig can't get any dumber," Ron muttered, scowling slightly. He sighed, and then gave a small smile.

Harry glanced at Luna and Neville, raising an eyebrow. Neville grinned. "I have an owl—a barn own—named Travis," he admitted. "I always thought of him as my familiar more than Trevor."

"And I have a Raven," Luna said dreamily. "Her name is Nevermore." She gave a nod. "I would like to see what she would become if given this potion."

Harry nodded, clambering over Hedwig's tail to get a better angle to scratch her large, hard wing feathers. "I'll make the potion over the break, then. I can get it to you after Christmas."

Hedwig tilted her head, nudging the pouch at Harry's side. _My Harry, _she stated. _The little one is close to hatching._

"I know," Harry replied, patting the covered egg. "As soon as it does I'll know where it belongs."

_Yes, _Hedwig agreed. _But a dragonling must spend time with adult dragons in order to learn the way of their kind._

Harry frowned for a moment. "Do you suggest letting it stay with Mnementh and Ramoth for a while?" he asked his familiar. Hedwig gave a nod, her large head bobbing, much as it did when she was still an owl. He shrugged. "Well, then," he answered. "That's what I'll do. I'll send a note to whoever's supposed to receive the dragon, and let them know that when its old enough, I'll send it their way."

"Harry…"Ginny mumbled. "Are you talking to Hedwig?" she asked.

Harry blinked, turning to his friends. "You didn't know? She speaks in my head. I think it's something to do with being a True Familiar."

The other five exchanged looks, and then they all grinned. "That is so cool," Ron said softly.

Hermione looked thoughtful. "So, when you said that Hedwig was helping you….back when we fought those Death Eaters at the World Cup…"

"She was in my head with me," Harry finished. He waved away the other questions, not really wanting to focus on fighting. "So, what does everyone want for Christmas?" he asked instead.

The conversation devolved from there, the six friends laughing and playing in the snow as they made their way back to the castle.

End Chapter


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